{"id":1869542,"date":"2026-04-07T09:06:49","date_gmt":"2026-04-07T06:06:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1869542"},"modified":"2026-04-07T09:06:49","modified_gmt":"2026-04-07T06:06:49","slug":"alex-eala-gets-honest-clay-verdict-and-top-20-ranking-message-from-former-world-no-4","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=1869542","title":{"rendered":"Alex Eala gets honest clay verdict and top 20 ranking message from former world No 4"},"content":{"rendered":"<article class=\"ps-article-content rounded-lg lg:mt-5 lg:border lg:border-card lg:bg-card lg:shadow-primary\">\n<header>\n<h1 class=\"py-4 text-xl font-normal text-title sm:text-2xl\">Alex Eala gets honest clay verdict and top 20 ranking message from former world No 4<\/h1>\n<div class=\"my-2 flex items-center justify-between\">\n<div class=\"flex items-center\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/author\/ewan-west\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Ewan West                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"07 Apr 2026 10:06 AM\" data-ps-date=\"07 Apr 2026 10:06 AM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1775552809\"><br \/>\n                            07 Apr 2026 10:06 AM                        <\/time>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"hidden justify-end space-x-4 text-xl sm:flex sm:!opacity-100\">\n                        <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img 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                   <a href=\"https:\/\/google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 hidden dark:block h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_dark.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                            <img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden h-6\" src=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/content\/themes\/tennis365-sportsui\/img\/png\/preferred_source_badge_light.png\" alt=\"Add as a preferred source on Google\" width=\"76\" height=\"24\"><br \/>\n                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <button id=\"t365-article-share-btn-hidden\" class=\"mr-2 hidden h-6 w-6 appearance-none border-none !text-share-icon outline-none hover:!text-share-icon-active sm:hidden\" data-title=\"Alex Eala gets honest clay verdict and top 20 ranking message from former world No 4\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/button>\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/header>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5 border-b border-page\"><\/div>\n<section>\n<div class=\"-mx-3 sm:-mx-5\">\n<figure class=\"aspect-h-9 aspect-w-16 relative\">\n                                        <img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1320\" height=\"742\" loading=\"eager\" class=\"w-full h-full object-cover object-center !my-0\" src=\"https:\/\/d2me2qg8dfiw8u.cloudfront.net\/content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Alex-Eala-roars-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Alex Eala at the Dubai Championships\">                <\/figure><figcaption class=\"flex items-center space-x-3 border-b border-mobile-caption px-3 lg:border-caption\">\n<div><\/div>\n<div class=\"my-1.5 break-words !text-xs !text-content\">\n                                Alex Eala roars in celebration                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Former world No 4 Greg Rusedski has revealed why he thinks Alex Eala could be tough to play against on clay as he declared he would \u201d love to see her in the top 20.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/alex-eala\">Eala<\/a> will begin her 2026 clay-court season against world No 89 Julia Grabher in the opening round of the WTA 500 tournament in Linz.<\/p>\n<p>The Filipina will be playing her first match since the Miami Open, and she is seeking her maiden WTA Tour title.<\/p>\n<p>The 20-year-old is currently ranked 46th, having reached her career-high ranking of world No 29 last month.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking on his <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=igFubrQ1FME\" target=\"_blank\">Off Court With Greg Rusedski<\/a> podcast, Rusedski discussed Eala\u2019s huge popularity and her prospects for the clay season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s like Manny Pacquiao, and they\u2019re always so hungry for a new superstar [in the Philippines],\u201d said the 1997 US Open runner-up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s a lovely girl, she\u2019s been at the Rafael Nadal academy for multiple years. We talked about the serve getting better.<\/p>\n<h2>WTA Tour News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/linz-open-meet-alex-ealas-first-round-opponent-wta-500-event\"><strong>Linz Open: Meet Alex Eala\u2019s first-round opponent at WTA 500 event<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/wta-tour\/alex-eala-ranking-prediction-clay-courts\"><strong>Alex Eala: Predicting where her world ranking will be after the clay court season<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/preferences\/source?q=tennis365.com\" target=\"_blank\">a preferred source on Google to your favourites list<\/a> for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s gonna be harder for people to hit a hole through her [on clay], it\u2019s gonna be much more physically combative.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBeing at the academy with Rafa on clay, he\u2019s spent a lot of time with her, so she knows what to do.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI\u2019d love to see her in the top 20; she is great for the WTA. We need more stars, we need more names, and we need new people. And she opens up a marketplace, and people just love her.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnywhere around the world where there are people from the Philippines, they\u2019re always talking about her: \u2018What meal can I cook for her? What can I do?\u2019<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAutomatically, her matches sell out, and for me, she is a huge, huge positive. I\u2019d love to see her, on this surface, crack the top 20 in the world.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Following Eala\u2019s 6-0, 6-2 loss to Karolina Muchova in the last 16 in Miami last month, Rusedski assessed that the Filipina\u2019s serve is a shot she must improve.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEala is getting into the later stages of tournaments, but once she gets there, she\u2019s getting beaten in pretty one-sided matches,\u201d said Rusedski.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think she needs to improve the serve. The serve, you know, gets you on the front foot from the start and she\u2019s gonna need to get physically stronger.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know, she\u2019s got to get more time in the gym, build up the muscles, get a little bit quicker. Then she\u2019ll start hitting the ball harder.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s still young. Let\u2019s not forget that. She\u2019s still very young and many more years to develop. And I think she\u2019s too good a player not to make it into the top 10.<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/carlos-alcaraz-surprised-jannik-sinner-stefanos-tsitsipas-alex-eala-novak-djokovic\">Alcaraz \u2018surprised\u2019 by Sinner as he issues complaint, Tsitsipas\u2019 rankings collapse, Eala\u2019s next opponent, Djokovic warned<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alex Eala gets honest clay verdict and top 20 ranking message from former world No 4 Ewan West 07 Apr 2026 10:06 AM Alex Eala roars in celebration Former world No 4 Greg Rusedski has revealed why he thinks Alex Eala could be tough to play against on clay as he declared he would \u201d [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[226,249],"class_list":["post-1869542","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-crawlmanager","tag-tennis365-com"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1869542","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1869542"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1869542\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1869542"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1869542"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1869542"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}