They didn’t see it coming

MANILA, Philippines — The oddsmakers, the so-called experts, those who try to make a living predicting the outcome of the games, got it all wrong.

Terribly wrong.

To them, five-time Grand Slam champion Iga Swiatek of Poland versus the wide-eyed world No. 140 Alex Eala of the Philippines was a no brainer.

It was like Mike Tyson vs Buster Douglas. Or Oscar dela Hoya vs Manny Pacquiao. Perhaps, the LA Lakers vs Ginebra San Miguel.

But strange things happen in sports. And it was stranger that Eala, the 19-year-old who still couldn’t make it to women’s Grand Slam tournaments, beat Swiatek in straight sets.

It was earth-shaking.

The victory came on a sunny afternoon in Miami, in the wee hours of the morning in Manila. It carried Eala straight to the semis of the Miami Open, where she will face anybody standing in front of her.

After beating world No. 25 Jelena Ostapenko, world No. 5 and reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys, and now the world No. 2 in Swiatek, all in straight sets, for sure Eala wouldn’t care who’s next.

She came to Miami with nothing to lose in the first place.

Well, the oddsmakers lost track on this one. They were all on the same page that all Swiatek needed to do to win the quarterfinals match was show up at the Hard Rock Stadium.

One gave Swiatek a 90.5 percent chance or probability of winning. And another had it even greater at 92.3 percent for the 23-year-old superstar, winner of four French Open crowns (2020, 2022, 2023 and 2024) and the US Open in 2022.

The odds read like -2000 for Swiatek (you would need to put $2,000 just to win a hundred) and +900 for Eala (a hundred turns into $900). Another betting station was a little more conservative at -1205 for Swiatek and +700 for Eala.

There were footnotes as well.

“Swiatek to win in straight sets,” said sportskeeda.com. “Winner: Swiatek,” added tennis.com.

“This match will likely be dominated entirely by Swiatek’s playstyle. Given Eala’s significant lack of experience, it’s almost inevitable that nerves will get the better of her in such a high-pressure situation, leading us to believe she won’t be able to withstand the formidable onslaught from her skilled opponent,” the editor of scores24.live wrote.

Wrong again.