00:00Still making her story in the international tennis scene,
00:05the Filipino's youngest, Alex Iyala,
00:08even though he didn't advance in the finals of the 2025 Miami Open.
00:13He was his own opponent in World No. 4.
00:16He admitted to being a tough contender,
00:19the Filipino tennis superstar.
00:21Joseph Moro was playing.
00:23Alex Iyala, a 19-year-old,
00:30made his debut in the semifinal match
00:34of the World No. 4 tennis player, Jessica Pegula,
00:37in the 2025 Miami Open.
00:39The audience enjoyed the viewing of the club
00:42where Alex Iyala played when he was a kid.
00:44The first set of the match was a close one,
00:51but the veteran American player scored a 7-6.
00:54The second set was even more intense
00:57when Alex Iyala fell due to a wrong step.
01:01But after the medical timeout,
01:03Alex Iyala didn't just get up,
01:05he won.
01:06Exquisite.
01:07He can still do it.
01:10I believe in Alex.
01:11And he continued to win the second set.
01:14We're killing the system.
01:19In the score of 6-5.
01:22This is ours!
01:25In the exciting third set,
01:29Alex Iyala gave all of his strength,
01:31but Nelly Ohana Pegula
01:33won the match in the score of 6-3.
01:35He's just ripping the ball,
01:38going for her shots,
01:39and it's tough when you have to kind of stop someone.
01:42It's like stopping the bleeding a little bit,
01:44like you gotta somehow put up an extra fort
01:46to kind of stop what she was bringing today,
01:48and I barely was able to do that.
01:50Pegula will advance to the finals,
01:53where she will face the world number one,
01:55Alex Iyala from Balenca, Belarus.
01:59And there ends Alex Iyala's campaign
02:02to make history in women's tennis.
02:04But that's what he's done in the past matches.
02:06That's history.
02:07But this time,
02:09she just comes a little bit short,
02:10but still not the ball.
02:13There's no doubt,
02:13especially when it comes to the semis,
02:15three high-ranking Grand Slam champions
02:17were named by Iyala.
02:19Yelena Ostapenko,
02:21Madison Keyes,
02:22and the world number two,
02:23Iga Siyantek.
02:25Even though Pegula beat her,
02:27she admitted that she was challenged,
02:28and she called her a tough contender.
02:31Almost the same comments in the tennis world,
02:33not only were noticed,
02:34but Iyala scored.
02:36At least Alex now is in the world stage.
02:41The viral meme that Iyala called
02:44a tough contender in the semis.
02:54And in this step,
02:55where she entered the top four of the Miami Open,
02:58she was able to rise to rank 75
03:01of the Women's Tennis Association
03:02from rank 140.
03:04She was the first Filipino to enter
03:06the top 100 of the WTA.
03:15It was a step forward
03:16for a possible greater success in tennis,
03:19not only for herself,
03:21but for other Filipinos
03:23whom she was able to inspire.
03:32For GMA Integrated News,
03:33Joseph Morong,
03:34for 24 Hours.
03:44For GMA Integrated News,
03:46Joseph Morong,
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