What Alexandra Eala needs to win titles and beat top players

Dubai: Filipina Alexandra Eala is pure box-office. No matter where she plays, the support she gets from tennis fans of her own community and beyond is simply electric. She literally feeds of that energy during her matches, as was evident in her run to the quarter-finals recently in Abu Dhabi, and although she made an early exit in Qatar, her debut appearance in Dubai next week is sure to draw in crowds by the thousands.

The 20-year-old’s rise up the WTA rankings has also been something to behold. Currently ranked 40th, she has made up nearly 100 places in the last 12 months.

She has already won over 200 matches on the WTA Tour and although she hasn’t won a WTA Tour title yet — her best so far has been making the WTA 250 final at Eastbourne last year, during which she also won her first WTA 125 Challenger title at Guadalajara — who can forget her run as a wildcard at the Miami Open, where she defeated Jelena Ostapenko, Madison Keys and Iga Swiatek before losing to Jessica Pegula in the semi-finals.

First Filipino

During that magical run last year, Eala became the first Filipino to reach a WTA 1000 event semi-final, the first Filipino woman to defeat a major champion at a tour-level event in the Open Era, and the first wildcard in history to defeat three major champions in straight sets at a single WTA event.

Incredible stats those, but with every new season, expectations from her grows. A very likeable player wherever she plays, the left-handed counter-puncher has proven she can compete from the baseline and absorb pace against top players, but holding serve consistently under pressure remains a key factor that separates the elite players from the rest.

Against the tour’s best returners, first-serve precision and variation are key. And this is where Eala’s improvement can make her a big threat to the top women players. At 1.75m, she is not tall by tennis standards and perhaps lacks the power and variety of the big-servers in the game — she has 7 aces so far this season, as against 75 by Australian Open champion Elena Rybakina. Add to that 29 double faults and it becomes clear which part of her game needs improving at this point. Eala already has the tools and competitive instincts to sharpen that weapon, so it’s only a matter of refinement rather than reinvention.

No major concern

It isn’t any major cause for concern just yet, but it is certainly an area that she should be focusing on, particularly with the rapid rise of many young players around her. The likes of Mirra Andreeva, Iva Jovic, Victoria Mboko and Maya Joint have all won a WTA Tour title in their brief careers so far.

Eala’s superb returning is in stark contrast to her serving struggles, which is unsurprising given her background. Remember, the Filipino prodigy emerged through Rafael Nadal’s academy, and we all know the Spaniard’s mastery in that area. Most importantly, Eala possesses immense mental strength, a very useful attribute that helps her stay in matches that are seemingly lost. And with the crowd getting behind her no matter who her opponent is, don’t be surprised if she is a seeded player by the time the French Open arrives in May.