{"id":2073317,"date":"2026-08-02T07:00:02","date_gmt":"2026-08-02T04:00:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2073317"},"modified":"2026-08-02T07:00:02","modified_gmt":"2026-08-02T04:00:02","slug":"what-alex-eala-had-to-say-about-her-serve-after-grand-slam-winner-claimed-its-holding-her-back","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2073317","title":{"rendered":"What Alex Eala had to say about her serve after Grand Slam winner claimed &#8216;it&#8217;s holding her back&#8217;"},"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\">What Alex Eala had to say about her serve after Grand Slam winner claimed \u2018it\u2019s holding her back\u2019<\/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\/shahidaj\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Shahida Jacobs                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"02 Aug 2026 8:00 AM\" data-ps-date=\"02 Aug 2026 8:00 AM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1785654002\"><br \/>\n                            02 Aug 2026 8:00 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 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flipboard\"><\/p>\n<p>                        <\/a>\n                    <\/div>\n<div class=\"sm:hidden flex items-center space-x-5\">\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 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=\"What Alex Eala had to say about her serve after Grand Slam winner claimed \u2018it\u2019s holding her back\u2019\"><\/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\/08\/Alex-Eala-serving-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Alex Eala serves during her match\">                <\/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 serves during her match                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Alex Eala is the first to acknowledge that her serve \u201ccan be uncomfortable\u201d, but she insists it is still a work in progress as she brushed off concerns that it is \u201cholding her back\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>The Filipina continues her stunning rise in tennis as she has reached her first WTA 500 final at the Washington DC Open after beating Zheng Qinwen, Leylah Fernandez, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-top-25-rankings-breakthrough-surreal-naomi-osaka\">Elina Svitolina<\/a> and Naomi Osaka.<\/p>\n<p>Despite her supposedly weak serve, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/alex-eala\">Eala<\/a> has dropped only one set during the tournament and that was in her first match against former world No 4 Zheng as she lost the opening set before winning the next 10.<\/p>\n<p>She was broken only once by Osaka in the semi-final while she broke twice in both sets and generally had the upper hand when it came to serving, as her first-serve percentage was at 59.6% compared to the Japanese star\u2019s 54.2%.<\/p>\n<p>Eala also won 71.4% of first-serve points with Osaka on 59.4% while she dominated the second-serve points won with 78.9% against 48.1%, dropping only four points on her second serve over the two sets.<\/p>\n<h2>Alex Eala News<\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/wta-tour\/alex-eala-4-wta-rankings-jam-packed-field-naomi-osaka-big-player\">Alex Eala +4 in WTA Rankings as she comes through \u2018jam-packed\u2019 field to reach final<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-effect-on-the-washington-open-qinwen-zheng\">Alex Eala told the effect she\u2019s having on the Washington Open after stunning victory against Qinwen Zheng<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Not bad for someone whose serve came under fire earlier in the week when <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/wta-tour\/serena-williams-coach-explains-victoria-mboko-can-win-grand-slam-but-alex-eala-cannot\">former world No 1 Rennae Stubbs<\/a> raised concerns over it.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEala\u2019s serve will never win her a Grand Slam,\u201d the four-time women\u2019s doubles Grand Slam winner said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast. \u201cI know people could say the same about Angie Kerber, but I feel that\u2019s what\u2019s holding Eala back.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think it\u2019s also what\u2019s holding Jessica Pegula back. Pegula\u2019s second serve is very vulnerable against players who hit the ball hard. I still hope she can win a Grand Slam, but right now I simply don\u2019t see it happening.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eala was asked about her serve after her win one-hour and 16-minute win over Osaka and knows there is work to do, but feels it allows her to use her other weapons.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think that my serve can be uncomfortable. I think I try to play around a lot with variety,\u201d Eala said in her post-match press conference.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOf course, it would be great if I had a serve that went 200 kilometres per hour. I\u2019d love that also, but it\u2019s a process. Who knows? I\u2019m not going to put a cap on my serve. Maybe I will one day serve 200. You never know (smiling).<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI like to look at it as a multi-dimensional thing. I have a variety of weapons in my bag. I think it\u2019s also a good thing that I don\u2019t rely on my serve alone, although I\u2019m standing by that it\u2019s dependable sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>What Alex Eala had to say about her serve after Grand Slam winner claimed \u2018it\u2019s holding her back\u2019 Shahida Jacobs 02 Aug 2026 8:00 AM Alex Eala serves during her match Alex Eala is the first to acknowledge that her serve \u201ccan be uncomfortable\u201d, but she insists it is still a work in progress as [&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-2073317","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\/2073317","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=2073317"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2073317\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2073317"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2073317"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2073317"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}