Martina Navratilova urges Alex Eala to improve one area of her game after Wimbledon defeat to Jasmine Paolini
Alex Eala had a Wimbledon to remember, but she was defeated in the fourth round by Jasmine Paolini.
Eala defeated Renata Zarazúa, Maya Joint, and Iga Swiatek en route to the fourth round, but Paolini had too much quality for her on Centre Court.
Paolini needed three sets to topple Eala, which ended a very promising grass court swing for the 21-year-old Filipina star.
Eala won the Birmingham Open and reached the semi-finals of the Berlin Open before her run to the fourth round of the grass court Grand Slam.
She currently sits at a career ranking high of World No 28 in the WTA Tour rankings thanks to her memorable run on the grass, but Martina Navratilova has still implored the Filipina star to improve her game.
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Speaking on The Tennis Channel about Eala’s clash with Paolini in the Wimbledon fourth round, the multi-time Grand Slam champion said: “Her serve. It’s too much of a puffball. Swiatek didn’t handle it well, but Paolini did. She was attacking the second serve.
“But even the first serve was like 80, 85. She can hit it 105, but she doesn’t. She needs to change the grip and use the leftyness more. She was not slicing. She was hitting most of her serve to the Paolini forehand, not the backhand with a slice.
“So the serve is where she can gain the most, because she’s tall enough. Her serve should be as good, if not better than Paolini, because Paolini is shorter, so work on that.”
Eala’s serve has long been her biggest weakness, although, at just 21-years-old, the Filipina star has plenty of time to put in the work on the practice courts.
Navratilova is right, however, about Swiatek’s inability to deal with Eala’s serve in the Wimbledon third round.
Speaking in her Wimbledon press conference after he defeat to Eala, Swiatek revealed just how tough she find it to return Eala’s serve.
“I think it was tougher mentally for me to accept these missed returns from the slow serves,” said the World No 3. “I got to say it’s much tougher to return a serve like that than a normal serve.
“I know it was slow. I know exactly how it’s going to come to me. It’s such a different rhythm than what I usually have a chance to return.”
Eala will next head to North American for the hardcourt swing. The star is on the entry list for the Washington Open, which is set to begin on July 27th. It will be Eala’s first-ever appearance at the tournament.
