Greg Rusedski says the first thing he would do with Alex Eala if he became her coach
Alexandra Eala has been on of the stories of Wimbledon so far after reaching the second week of a Grand Slam for the first time in her career.
Eala defeated Renata Zarazúa, Maya Joint, and Iga Swiatek to reach the fourth round of Wimbledon, where she was defeated in three sets by Jasmine Paolini.
The Filipina star is up to a career ranking high of World No 28 following her exploits at SW19, as well as an impressive grass court swing which brought her the Birmingham Open final and a semi-final appearance at the Berlin Open.
Despite Eala’s impressive run at Wimbledon, it’s clear that the 21-year-old has a major weakness and that is most definitely the star’s less than perfect serve.
Greg Rusedski, on his podcast Off Court with Greg, has been impressed by Eala’s run to the fourth round, but he does think her serve needs some work.
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Asked what he would do if he was in her box, Rusedski replied: “No question she can have more power, but also she has some strapping on the elbow where the serving arm, the left arm. So that was a little bit disconcerting. She doesn’t make any excuses.
“She’s like Rafael Nadal and I like her. Great competitor. Great returns, great ground strokes. But I kind of look at her serve and I feel like she can loosen up like the wrist position a little bit like Novak Djokovic.
“I feel like she can get the throwing position a little bit better and she’s got good swing on the serve, but she’s got to find that balance of when to hit it, when not to hit it, and it’s just something she’s just got to put more reps in and just make a slight tweak in the technique.
“It’s not too much to do. So, for me, the first Filipino to be in the fourth round, a major, man or woman, this will not be her last fourth round. And Wimbledon for me is her best shot to go deep at a major and really have a chance to win it one day.
“But that one area we talked about, the serve needs to become a weapon where she can get the first strike in after the serve. She has the knowledge of how to mix it, but she needs a little bit more accuracy, a little bit more power, and that will come in time.”
Greg Rusedski’s advice has been echoed by Martina Navratilova, who advised Alex Eala to work on her serve.
