{"id":2097370,"date":"2026-08-17T12:30:13","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T09:30:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2097370"},"modified":"2026-08-17T12:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T09:30:13","slug":"alex-eala-told-what-she-must-do-to-become-an-even-bigger-threat-to-her-wta-rivals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2097370","title":{"rendered":"Alex Eala told what she must do to become an even bigger threat to her WTA rivals"},"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 told what she must do to become an even bigger threat to her WTA rivals<\/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=\"17 Aug 2026 1:30 PM\" data-ps-date=\"17 Aug 2026 1:30 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1786969813\"><br \/>\n                            17 Aug 2026 1:30 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\" 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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 told what she must do to become an even bigger threat to her WTA rivals\"><\/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-roars-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Alex Eala celebrates\">                <\/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>A legendary former coach of Serena and Venus Williams thinks Alex Eala\u2019s match against Amanda Anisimova at the 2026 Cincinnati Open will be a \u201cgreat learning test.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/alex-eala\">Eala<\/a>, who is seeded 17th in Cincinnati, will take on ninth seed Anisimova in a third round clash many fans were hoping to see when the draw was made.<\/p>\n<p>It will be Eala\u2019s first-ever encounter with world No 10 Anisimova, a 24-year-old American star who was a runner-up at both Wimbledon and the US Open in 2025.<\/p>\n<p>The Filipina star holds a sensational 9-4 career record against players ranked in the top 10, with seven of these victories coming this year.<\/p>\n<p>The 21-year-old has won 11 of her last 13 matches in a run that has stretched across Wimbledon, Washington DC, Toronto, and her opening match in Cincinnati.<\/p>\n<p>Rick Macci, who has coached five players who went on to become world No 1, looked ahead to Eala\u2019s showdown with Anisimova.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cEALA versus ANISIMOVA will give everybody a snapshot in real time of the Philippine machine and her movement and defense,\u201d the American wrote in a post on his X\/Twitter account.<\/p>\n<h2>WTA Tour News<\/h2>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-rafael-nadal-schedule-mistakes-greg-rusedski\"><strong>Alex Eala gets candid verdict about avoiding key \u2018mistakes\u2019 as Rafael Nadal comparison made<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-reveals-number-one-priority-after-winning-latest-match-in-cincinnati\"><strong>Alex Eala reveals \u2018number one priority\u2019 after winning latest match in Cincinnati<\/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>\u201cFor her (Eala) to climb that mountain top the power players with clean lethal early strikes like her (Anisimova) is a great learning test for sure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhen Alex is set on balance and able to hit on the rise this [is] when she gets you on a string and usually gets the prize.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In a separate tweet, Macci assessed that Eala could become even more of a handful for her opponents if she is able to add pace to her second serve.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAsk any WTA player if they would rather return a slow 70 mph second serve lefty lollipop or an 85 mph lefty laser from the Philippine machine gun and it is a slam dunk answer,\u201d Macci wrote.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTennis is a game of time. Speed kills. Once Alex rewires everything in sync from the ground up look for her second serve to have juice bite and hop and other players wish they still tasted the LEFTY LOLLIPOP.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ NEXT: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-biggest-star-tennis-sam-querrey-cincinnati-open\">Alex Eala is a \u2018problem\u2019 for her WTA rivals, says former world No 11<\/a><br \/>\n<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Alex Eala told what she must do to become an even bigger threat to her WTA rivals Ewan West 17 Aug 2026 1:30 PM Alex Eala roars in celebration A legendary former coach of Serena and Venus Williams thinks Alex Eala\u2019s match against Amanda Anisimova at the 2026 Cincinnati Open will be a \u201cgreat learning [&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-2097370","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\/2097370","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=2097370"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2097370\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2097370"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2097370"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2097370"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}