Alex Eala told to make decision that ‘will change her career’ after ‘liability’ was exposed in latest loss
A legendary coach has urged Alex Eala’s team to make a decision that will “change her career” following the Filipina’s loss at the 2026 Ningbo Open.
Eala was beaten 7-5, 6-4 by world No 13 Diana Shnaider in the second round at the WTA 500 tournament in Ningbo on Thursday.
Both sets were highly competitive, but Eala was let down by her serve as she was broken in six of her 11 service games — including four times in the second set.
The world No 20 won only 38 of the 77 points (49%) played on her serve, registering a brutal 51% win rate behind her first serve and 47% on her second serve points.
Eala crushed 34th-ranked Diane Parry 6-3, 6-1 in her first round match in Ningbo to earn her first tour-level win since the US Open. She suffered a shock three-set defeat to Chinese qualifier Han Shi in the opening round at the Wuhan Open last week.
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Rick Macci — a former coach of Serena and Venus Williams — has frequently identified Eala’s serve as a key weakness in 2026, and he reiterated this after her defeat in Ningbo.
In a post on Twitter/X, Macci assessed that Eala’s serve is a “liability” and called for the 21-year-old to “rewire” the shot biomechanically.
“The Philippine Machine has a chance to start clean,” the American wrote.
“Her serve in the off season can be rewired 100% with a science based biomechanical approach brick by brick. She needs to go deep under the hood as right now everything is misunderstood.
“It is not the toss or power position or her legs on and on. The serve seen at 400 frames a second is 100% off as the racket entry is already in and on the other side of her body creating all the symptoms most see.
“If her team wants to totally flip the script and go into the lab and make the lefty liability lollipop into a Filipino Flame this one surgical decision will change her career and Game.”
Eala will compete at the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo next week, where she will face 308th-ranked wildcard Mika Stojsavljevic in the opening round.
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