A four-time major winner. A former World No. 1. Two more Grand Slam champions on top of that — plus a fifth, for good measure. Here’s the growing list of career-defining scalps behind Alex Eala’s rise into the world Top 20.
Alex Eala’s climb up the WTA rankings hasn’t happened against soft competition. Along the way, she’s beaten five different Grand Slam champions — some of them more than once — building a résumé that reads less like a rising talent’s highlight reel and more like a proven contender’s track record. Here they are, in the order she beat them.
New to her season? Read our Alex Eala: Biography, WTA Title, and 2026 Career Stats for her complete career overview.
1️⃣ Jelena Ostapenko — 2017 French Open Champion
Where: 2025 Miami Open, Round 2
This was the one that started it all. Entering Miami ranked a modest No. 140 as a wildcard, 19-year-old Eala pulled off a result no Filipina had ever managed: defeating a Grand Slam champion at a tour-level event. Ostapenko, the 2017 Roland Garros winner, fell in Eala’s second match of the tournament — and it was only the beginning of one of the most stunning runs of the 2025 WTA season.
2️⃣ Madison Keys — 2025 Australian Open Champion
Where: 2025 Miami Open, Round 3
One round later, Eala did it again — this time against the reigning Australian Open champion and then-World No. 5, winning in straight sets, 6-4, 6-2. It was Eala’s first-ever win over a Top 10 player, and she was visibly emotional afterward, telling reporters she needed to “take it in step by step” while still processing what had just happened.
3️⃣ Iga Swiatek — Five-Time Grand Slam Champion, Former World No. 1
Where: 2025 Miami Open, Quarterfinal (and again at 2026 Wimbledon, Round 3)
The signature win — twice over. In the Miami quarterfinal, Eala beat then-World No. 2 Swiatek 6-2, 7-5, becoming only the second wildcard ever to beat three or more major champions in a single tour-level event (after Elina Svitolina at Wimbledon 2023). The moment carried extra weight: Swiatek had been a guest speaker at Eala’s 2023 graduation ceremony at the Rafa Nadal Academy, tossing her cap alongside the graduating class just two years before facing her across the net.
Eala backed it up over a year later, beating Swiatek again in straight sets, 7-6, 6-2, in the third round of Wimbledon 2026 — the best Grand Slam result of her career at the time, and a result that gave her a 2-1 head-to-head edge over the Polish star.
4️⃣ Elena Rybakina — 2022 Wimbledon Champion
Where: 2026 Berlin Open
A statement win during arguably her best WTA campaign since Miami. At the Berlin Open, Eala defeated Rybakina in straight sets, evening their head-to-head record at 1-1 after the Kazakh star had beaten her a month earlier at the Italian Open. The same Berlin run also included a win over former World No. 3 Elina Svitolina — making it one of the deepest multi-Top-10-win tournaments of Eala’s career outside of Miami.
5️⃣ Naomi Osaka — Four-Time Grand Slam Champion
Where: 2026 Mubadala DC Open, Semifinal
The biggest name on this list. On her way to her first-ever WTA Tour title, Eala beat four-time major champion Naomi Osaka in the semifinals of the DC Open — one of four notable scalps in that tournament alone, alongside Olympic gold medalist Zheng Qinwen, defending champion Leylah Fernandez, and eventual finalist Jessica Pegula.
Want the full story of that title run? Read our Alex Eala Wins First WTA Title, Breaks Into World Top 20
THE FULL LIST AT A GLANCE
# Champion Grand Slam Pedigree Where Eala Beat Her 1 Jelena Ostapenko 2017 French Open 2025 Miami Open (R2) 2 Madison Keys 2025 Australian Open 2025 Miami Open (R3) 3 Iga Swiatek 5-time Grand Slam champion 2025 Miami Open (QF) + 2026 Wimbledon (R3) 4 Elena Rybakina 2022 Wimbledon 2026 Berlin Open 5 Naomi Osaka 4-time Grand Slam champion 2026 DC Open (SF)
HONORABLE MENTIONS
A few near-misses worth noting: Eala’s win over Coco Gauff at Indian Wells 2026 came via walkover after Gauff retired injured — a notable Top 5 result, but not a completed match, so it doesn’t make the list above. She’s also picked up wins over other elite non-Slam-champion opponents along the way, including Jasmine Paolini (a Grand Slam finalist, though not yet a champion) at the 2026 Dubai Championships.
WHY THIS LIST KEEPS GROWING
What separates Eala from a typical “giant killer” storyline is repetition. Beating one Grand Slam champion can be a career-defining upset. Beating five — including a two-time win over a five-time major champion — is a pattern, not a fluke. As her ranking climbs further into the Top 20 and beyond, expect this list to keep getting longer, not shorter.
🎾 Continue exploring our Alex Eala coverage: Alex Eala’s Road to the Finals: 2026 Indian Wells Draw Analysis · Alex Eala’s SEA Games Gold Medal Recap
This is a living list — we’ll update it every time Eala adds a new Grand Slam champion to her win column.
