{"id":2078738,"date":"2026-08-05T15:00:34","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T12:00:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2078738"},"modified":"2026-08-05T15:00:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-05T12:00:34","slug":"alex-eala-praised-for-making-major-tactical-difference-to-win-the-washington-open","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2078738","title":{"rendered":"Alex Eala praised for making major &#8216;tactical difference&#8217; to win the Washington Open"},"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 praised for making major \u2018tactical difference\u2019 to win the Washington Open<\/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\/liam-mcmillen\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Liam McMillen                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"05 Aug 2026 4:00 PM\" data-ps-date=\"05 Aug 2026 4:00 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1785942034\"><br \/>\n                            05 Aug 2026 4:00 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                   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                  <\/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=\"Alex Eala praised for making major \u2018tactical difference\u2019 to win the Washington Open\"><\/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-in-action-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Alex Eala 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 in action                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Alex Eala has been \u2018one to watch\u2019 since her breakout tournament at the Miami Open in 2025, but she truly came of age at this year\u2019s Washington Open.<\/p>\n<p>Eala produced a terrific set of performances to dispatch Qinwen Zheng, Leylah Fernandez, Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka, and Jessica Pegula to win her first WTA title.<\/p>\n<p>The latter of those three opponents were all the top three seeds in the tournament, and she now has eight victories against top 10 players in 2026.<\/p>\n<p>Eala has hit a serious vein of form in the summer months and Kim Clijsters believes it\u2019s down to a \u2018tactical difference\u2019 the Filipina has made.<\/p>\n<h2>More Alex Eala news<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-makes-canadian-open-decision-derail-chances-of-winning\">Alex Eala\u2019s strange Canadian Open decision which could derail her chances of winning<\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-has-already-had-a-major-effect-on-the-canadian-open-without-even-playing\">Alex Eala has already had a major effect on the Canadian Open without even playing<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u201cPhysically her body looks a lot stronger than what she was back then [in 2025] and of course you know she\u2019s she\u2019s a woman now,\u201d said Clijsters on her podcast <a rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=oE8slE03RNQ\" target=\"_blank\">Love All<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI felt like she was still a young girl and and when she came up, so I think that\u2019s where she\u2019s made a lot of strides as well to be able to weaken [opponents] and the list of names games that you named that she beat like you have to be physically capable of counter punching.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike there\u2019s a lot of hard hitters in there, a lot of long rallies that she like that always has to play long matches. And so the body has to be ready to take on that demand. And to me that\u2019s the the first thing that stands out.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat I think is in general for everybody else, even if you\u2019re not a tennis fan or you don\u2019t watch tennis often, is her movement, right? She moves really really well. What I like to look at, and I call it home base, like where she runs back to in between her shots.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLike she doesn\u2019t wait when she gets pushed back. Like she doesn\u2019t wait in the back of the court or in the middle of the back of the court. She takes those steps forward and is always looking to cut the corners and to just yeah take time away from her opponent which is that combination is there\u2019s a lot of players who move really well side to side but they don\u2019t just don\u2019t cut the corners when they when they have the chance.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/kim-clijsters\">Clijsters<\/a> believes <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/alex-eala\">Eala\u2019s<\/a> new-found form is also down to her brilliant return of serve, which she was most impressed with at the Washington Open.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTo me those two things stand out for me in her in her movement and then I think her anticipation, I don\u2019t think I noticed it as much as maybe this week where especially in <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/naomi-osaka\">Osaka<\/a> was to me the first time where I started noticing how well she\u2019s reading her opponent\u2019s serves.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOsaka can can really hide her serve direction very well and she at times is standing like a foot like into the court and still getting to the return on time and to the serve like first serves like good kick serves from Osaka.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI think when it comes down to like a tactical difference that she made this week or that she\u2019s made over the last few months and that stood out for me this week is her serve return positioning and the way that she\u2019s been able to attack first and second serve of good servers and made it really tough.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe\u2019s a left-hander so we know that that\u2019s always a little bit tricky for a lot of players. Placing her serve better. It\u2019s not the hardest serve, but she places it well. Good variety. So, yeah, a lot of great things I feel like that she\u2019s been adding on to and that she\u2019s been improving over time.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Eala will next play at the Canadian Open, with a very short turnaround from lifting the trophy at the Washington Open.<\/p>\n<p>The Filipina star has been given a first round bye at the Toronto event, due to her seeding, and she will play<\/p>\n<p>in the second round.<\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alex Eala praised for making major \u2018tactical difference\u2019 to win the Washington Open Liam McMillen 05 Aug 2026 4:00 PM Alex Eala in action Alex Eala has been \u2018one to watch\u2019 since her breakout tournament at the Miami Open in 2025, but she truly came of age at this year\u2019s Washington Open. Eala produced a [&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-2078738","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\/2078738","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=2078738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2078738\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2078738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2078738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2078738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}