Australian Open Champion Madison Keys fell 6-4, 6-2 by the Philippine wildcard Alexandra Eerra and was dumped from the Miami Open on Sunday.
For 19-year-old Ira, an upset victory over the American Fifth Seed extended her dream run in Miami, beating two Grand Slam champions and defeating 2017 French Open winner Jerena Ostapenko in the second round.
Trained at Rafael Nadal Academy in Mallorca since the age of 13, Ira requested medical timeouts for what appears to be a foot injury, but was power from the baseline against the Keys, who reached the Indian Wells semi-finals last week.
Next up after EALA is the winner of Spain’s 10th seed Paula Badosa, 6-3, 7-6 (3) Dane Clara Tauson.
Former champion Iga Swiatek won a 7-6 (2), 6-1 victory over Belgium’s 27th seed Elise Mertens, 7-6 (2), 6-1, making Poland’s second species the final 16 and became the first player to reach the final 16 event of the WTA 1000 event in 25 consecutive appearances.
Swiatek built a seemingly comfortable 5-2 lead on the first set, but Mertens managed to get back to 5-5 before Paul ran off on a tiebreaker and thrust through the second frame.
“I’m happy to be able to level up with the tiebreaker and close in two sets. Also, in the second set, I felt like I was good, very confident,” Swiatek said. “Yeah, overall I’m happy with the performance and how I used some of the issues.”
After Sweet, Erina Svitorina from Ukraine. He beat Czech 15th seed Karolina Mciva 6-2, 3-6, 6-2, and ran to the Indian Wells quarter-finals, losing to ultimate champion Mira Andreva.