The 5 lowest-ranked women to beat Iga Swiatek in a WTA match: ft. Alex Eala

Oli Dickson Jefford 27 Mar 2025 3:02 PM

Iga Swiatek with Alex Eala, who beat her at the Miami Open.

Iga Swiatek and Alex Eala.

Iga Swiatek suffered one of the most shocking defeats of her career with a stunning loss to Miami Open wildcard Alex Eala on Wednesday.

The world No 2’s exit continues a run of 10 straight tournaments without reaching a final on the WTA Tour – and this exit now ranks among her worst-ever defeats in terms of opponent ranking.

Looking solely at WTA Tour main draw matches, here are the five lowest-ranked women to beat Swiatek.

5) Polona Hercog – world No 89 (2019 Lugano Open)

World No 115 Swiatek was the lower-ranked player when she was beaten by world No 89 Hercog in the 2019 Ladies Open Lugano final.

It was the Pole’s first-ever WTA final and the 17-year-old gave a good account of herself against the vastly experienced Hercog, though it was the Slovenian who sealed a 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 victory.

Ranked as high as 35th at her peak, Hercog remains one of just three women to beat Swiatek in a WTA Tour final.

4) Christina McHale – world No 90 (2020 Cincinnati Open)

Swiatek was ranked 51st in the world when tennis action resumed post-COVID in August 2020, with the first event back being the Cincinnati Open – held under the US Open ‘bubble’ in New York.

The Pole was unable to get her campaign off to a winning start, losing to qualifier McHale – the world No 90 – 6-2, 6-4 in the opening round.

However, Swiatek would bounce back to reach the third round of the US Open, and win her first French Open title just weeks later.

3) Karolina Muchova – world No 106 (2019 Prague Open)

Muchova has proven a key rival for Swiatek in recent years, with the Pole most notably beating the Czech in a thrilling final at the French Open back in 2023.

However, Swiatek – the world No 95 – was beaten by Muchova in front of the latter’s home crowd in the opening round of the Prague Open back in 2019.

Muchova prevailed 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 to seal what remains her only win over Swiatek in five meetings.

2) Alex Eala – world No 140 (2025 Miami Open)

Eala’s win over the world No 2 on Wednesday was one of the biggest shocks in recent times – and is Swiatek’s second-worst loss by opponent ranking in a WTA main draw match.

The Pole was an overwhelming favourite against 19-year-old Eala, who had never reached a tour-level quarter-final before this week.

However, the Filipina backed up big wins over Jelena Ostapenko and Madison Keys to beat Swiatek 6-2, 7-5, and will crack the top 100 of the WTA Rankings next week.

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1) Ana Konjuh – world No 338 (2021 Miami Open)

Ironically, Swiatek’s worst WTA main draw loss by ranking also came at the Miami Open.

She came into the tournament in 2021 as the world No 16 and the 15th seed, following her surprise triumph at Roland Garros the previous Autumn.

After beating Barbora Krejcikova in her opener, Swiatek came up against world No 338 Ana Konjuh, who had received a wildcard into the draw as she attempted a comeback from injury.

The Croatian claimed a 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 triumph to end Swiatek’s campaign – and she remains the lowest-ranked player to beat the five-time Grand Slam champion.