‘Alex Eala could someday be world No 1’, says legendary coach
A legendary tennis coach has lauded Alex Eala’s game and made a bold rankings claim after the Filipina star’s Washington Open breakthrough.
Eala fought back to stun world No 3 Jessica Pegula 4-6, 6-4, 6-0 in the Washington final to claim her first-ever WTA Tour title.
The match was suspended on Sunday due to rain with Pegula leading 6-4, 1-2, and Eala won 10 of the 13 games after play resumed on Monday.
In a remarkably one-sided deciding set, Eala lost just eight of the 32 points played as she raced to the finish line.
American coach Rick Macci knows what a champion looks like, having worked with Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick — all of whom went on to become world No 1.
In a post on X/Twitter, Macci highlighted some of Eala’s most impressive qualities and claimed that the 21-year-old is capable of reaching the very top of the rankings.
“What I love about the PHILIPPINE MACHINE is she hits clean,” Macci wrote.
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“Very good balance to earn more allowance. But because she takes it on the rise and creates brutal angles with disguise and plays the game with her eyes.
“But she is not afraid to pull the trigger and go bigger under the gun and that is another reason she could someday be number one.”
Eala also overcame Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina, Leylah Fernandez and Zheng Qinwen in Washington.
After the final, Eala addressed how her title run could propel her to the next level.
“I think to have this many matches at this very high level, having these high calibre players, it helps me obviously just gain experience and more core time at that level,” said the world No 20.
“And I think inevitably propelling my progression and the level of my game, because if you spend time at that kind of zone, the more time you spend, I believe the better you get and the more consistent you get.
“So, it’s it’s all these matches and all these hours are just experience in the bag.”
