{"id":2077017,"date":"2026-08-04T12:00:55","date_gmt":"2026-08-04T09:00:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2077017"},"modified":"2026-08-04T12:00:55","modified_gmt":"2026-08-04T09:00:55","slug":"alex-eala-could-someday-be-world-no-1-says-legendary-coach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2077017","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Alex Eala could someday be world No 1&#8217;, says legendary coach"},"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\">\u2018Alex Eala could someday be world No 1\u2019, says legendary coach<\/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=\"04 Aug 2026 1:00 PM\" data-ps-date=\"04 Aug 2026 1:00 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1785844855\"><br \/>\n                            04 Aug 2026 1:00 PM                        <\/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 loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"mx-auto !my-0 dark:hidden 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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=\"\u2018Alex Eala could someday be world No 1\u2019, says legendary coach\"><\/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\/06\/Alex-Eala-reacts-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Alex Eal in action\">                <\/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 reacts during her match                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>A legendary tennis coach has lauded Alex Eala\u2019s game and made a bold rankings claim after the Filipina star\u2019s Washington Open breakthrough.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>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.<\/p>\n<p>In a remarkably one-sided deciding set, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/alex-eala\">Eala<\/a> lost just eight of the 32 points played as she raced to the finish line.<\/p>\n<p>American coach Rick Macci knows what a champion looks like, having worked with Serena and Venus Williams, Jennifer Capriati, Maria Sharapova and Andy Roddick \u2014 all of whom went on to become world No 1.<\/p>\n<p>In a post on X\/Twitter, Macci highlighted some of Eala\u2019s most impressive qualities and claimed that the 21-year-old is capable of reaching the very top of the rankings.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I love about the PHILIPPINE MACHINE is she hits clean,\u201d Macci wrote.<\/p>\n<h2>WTA Tour News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/everything-alex-eala-said-after-winning-washington-dc-open\"><strong>Everything Alex Eala said in her press conference after Washington DC Open triumph<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/top-atp-coach-reveals-first-thing-players-washington-champion-alex-eala\"><strong>Top ATP coach reveals the first thing players should do against Washington champion Alex Eala<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" 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>\u201cVery 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut 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.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eala also overcame Naomi Osaka, Elina Svitolina, Leylah Fernandez and Zheng Qinwen in Washington.<\/p>\n<p>After the final, Eala addressed how her title run could propel her to the next level.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI 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,\u201d said the world No 20.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAnd 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.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSo, it\u2019s it\u2019s all these matches and all these hours are just experience in the bag.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/greg-rusedski-predicts-when-alex-eala-grand-slams-most-exciting-claim\">Greg Rusedski predicts when Alex Eala will start challenging for Grand Slams amid \u2018most exciting\u2019 claim<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Alex Eala could someday be world No 1\u2019, says legendary coach Ewan West 04 Aug 2026 1:00 PM Alex Eala reacts during her match A legendary tennis coach has lauded Alex Eala\u2019s game and made a bold rankings claim after the Filipina star\u2019s Washington Open breakthrough. Eala fought back to stun world No 3 Jessica [&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-2077017","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\/2077017","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=2077017"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2077017\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2077017"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2077017"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2077017"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}