The country’s tennis ace Alexandra ‘Alex’ Eala may have emerged as one of the biggest stars in women’s tennis over the last few months, but seven-time Grand Slam champion John McEnroe has given the Filipina rising star sound advice, suggesting that one of her key shots her ‘liability’.
Looking back, the 21-year-old Eala achieved her best result at a Grand Slam when she reached the last-16 at Wimbledon in July, beating defending champion Iga Swiatek as part of that run.
She then backed that up by winning her first-ever Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour title at the Washington Open, with a couple of wins at the US Open highlighting her hardcourt power.
Tennis experts have witnessed how Eala’s groundstrokes have become as potent as the top players in the women’s game, but it’s in her serve that the problem lies as it has been broken nine times in her third round defeat against American pal Iva Jovic at the recent United States Open.
And this has inspired the legendary McEnroe to suggest that the country’s pride needs to improve her serve if she really wants to take her game to a higher level.
“I’ll start by saying the sky’s the limit for her,” McEnroe enthused.
“Is she a great athlete? Yes, but to be that A-plus, that’s where you get found out if you are not at that level,” he responded to queries from Tennis365 in his role as a Eurosport and HBO Max analyst at the US Open.
“Not everyone’s six one or six feet like (Elena) Rybakina or (Aryna) Sabalenka 5’11. Not everyone is as fast as Coco Gauff. That’s the type of thing that would bring Eala to the next level,” he added. McEnroe stressed that in tennis, to reach success, “you need the full package, you need the movement (. . .), you know, that’s obviously extremely important in tennis with men and the women.”
When asked what area of Eala’s game needed to improve most, he didn’t hesitate in his answer: “If she wants to win one of these majors, she’s got to improve the serve. It’s a liability. It’s gotten better, but, you know, therens more to come.”
Yet, despite the comment, the seven-time grand slammer was full of praise for the world’s number 18, as he suggested the Filipina is backing up the hype around her.
“The Philippines doesn’t have a history of tennis that I’m aware of, so there’s huge interest in Eala,” he remarked. “She’s as popular as Manny Pacquiao was in his days at the top of boxing and the great thing is, Eala is backing it up.
“You know, she’s just competing so well. It’s just a beautiful thing to watch. So just from the standpoint of a tennis player, to see her, you know, sort of learn how to develop her skills is pretty awesome.
“There’s something about her, there’s like a she uses with personality and competitiveness at the same time, which people gravitate towards.”
In the meantime, Greg Rusedski’s history as a coach is beyond reproach and at this point in time, he is extending his coaching offer to Alexandra Eala.