Alexandra Eala gets candid advice on how to improve her serve by former Grand Slam finalist
Alex Eala’s rise up the tennis rankings has been one of the stand-out stories of the 2026 season, but one area of her game needs to be improved before she can break into the top 10 of the WTA Rankings.
Eala’s form since the start of the grass court season in June has been impressive, with her win in the WTA 125 event in Birmingham backed up by a run to the last-16 at Wimbledon that included a win over Iga Swiatek.
The Filipina then won her first WTA Tour title in Washington and is on course to finish 2026 in the top 20 of the rankings.
Yet one shot remains a weak spot for Eala and after John McEnroe suggested her serve was ‘a liability’, the 21-year-old has now received candid advice from 1997 US Open finalist Greg Rusedski.
The former British No 1 had the fastest serve in tennis at one point in his career and he suggests a shift in the service stance of Eala could give her more power on her shots.
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“I’m sure Alex and the rest of her team know this is something she’s gonna have to continually work on,” said Rusedski on his podcast.
“Once they get to the end of the season, I’m sure that’s number one on the list. It’s finding a solution that the player agrees with to get there to the next step. So she will improve it. She’s got too good a team of people around her.”
Rusedski did a demonstration on his YouTube channel looking at Eala’s service motion, as he suggests the skip she does as she gets into her service motion could be tweaked to offer more stability.
She suggested dragging the foot through would allow her to have a stronger platform to deliver her serve, while he also encouraged her to tilt her shoulders more prominently before striking the ball.
Eala’s recent defeats have all come in matches that had multiple breaks of serve, with Rusedski arguing the players at the top of the women’s game succeed because they top the list of service holds.
“There’s more breaks in the women’s game,” he added. “I look at the player with the best serve in the women’s game and Elena Rybakina. She is world no 1 and she just won the US Open.
“Some of this is pshycial. It also depends on your height and your ability in that in that manner and and a multiple of combinations.
“But if you have a better serve, whether it’s in the men’s or the women’s game, it makes a huge difference.
“It’s an area everybody has areas to work on and usually it’s between the ears.
“That’s where the off season is huge. Those six weeks to a month period you have, if you can maximise and get a solution where you can get the speed, the accuracy up and break it down and get that daily work, that’s where it puts plays plays dividends for her or for any player during that period.
“And for me, I feel like she’s got that work ethic, that belief. And will the coaches be brave?
“No matter what level you are, you’re always looking for improvements. And that is the period where you make those massive changes. Because really hard sometimes to do it during the season.
“The rest of her game is there. The ground shots are fantastic, her battling qualities are there. The serve is the one area she can improve and she will do that as she is still so young.”
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