{"id":2117286,"date":"2026-08-28T22:00:32","date_gmt":"2026-08-28T19:00:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2117286"},"modified":"2026-08-28T22:00:32","modified_gmt":"2026-08-28T19:00:32","slug":"never-seen-anything-like-it-former-british-no-1-explains-what-makes-alex-eala-special","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/?p=2117286","title":{"rendered":"&#8216;Never seen anything like it&#8217; &#8211; Former British No 1 explains what makes Alex Eala special"},"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\">\u2018Never seen anything like it\u2019 \u2013 Former British No 1 explains what makes Alex Eala special<\/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\/richie-mills\" class=\"text-sm font-normal !text-author\"><br \/>\n                            Richie Mills                        <\/a><br \/>\n                        <time class=\"ml-3 text-sm font-normal text-info md:ml-4\" datetime=\"28 Aug 2026 11:00 PM\" data-ps-date=\"28 Aug 2026 11:00 PM\" data-ps-datetime=\"1787954432\"><br \/>\n                            28 Aug 2026 11:00 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 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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=\"\u2018Never seen anything like it\u2019 \u2013 Former British No 1 explains what makes Alex Eala special\"><\/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\/3FCPNFF-1-1320x742.jpg\" alt=\"Pictured: Alex Eala at the US Open\">                <\/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                                Annabel Croft has sung the praises of Alex Eala                            <\/div>\n<\/figcaption><\/div>\n<div class=\"ciam-article-t365\"><!-- Article Start --><\/p>\n<p>Former British No 1 Annabel Croft believes that Alex Eala is building a \u201ccertain aura\u201d in the locker room and that her popularity is like nothing she has seen before.<\/p>\n<p>Ever since the left-hander enjoyed a breakthrough run to the semi-finals at the 2025 Miami Open, \u2018EalaMania\u2019 has been in full swing.<\/p>\n<p>Backed by an army of fans from the Philippines, which is a part of the world that has had very little tennis success, the 21-year-old is arguably becoming the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/wta-tour\">WTA Tour<\/a>\u2018s hottest topic.<\/p>\n<p>The Filipina is backing up the hype, though, with <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/alex-eala\">Eala<\/a> rising to a career-high ranking of 18 after a summer where she won her first WTA Tour title in Washington, in a star-studded lineup, and reached round four of <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/wimbledon\">Wimbledon<\/a> \u2013 beating defending champion <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tag\/iga-swiatek\">Iga Swiatek<\/a> along the way.<\/p>\n<p>At this month\u2019s Canadian Open, thousands of fans came to watch Eala in what was a carnival-like atmosphere at the Toronto tournament. After seeing those scenes, Croft admitted she was completely blown away.<\/p>\n<h2><strong>More Alex Eala News<\/strong><\/h2>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/alex-eala-adds-exciting-event-schedule-father-joins-us-open-exhibition\">Alex Eala: Filipina adds \u2018exciting\u2019 event to schedule as dad joins her on court at US Open<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-news\/felix-auger-aliassime-five-word-verdict-alex-ealas-serve-returning-us-open\">Alex Eala: Felix-Auger Aliassime issues five-word verdict on Filipina\u2019s serve that bodes well for US Open chances<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Want more from Tennis365? Add us as<span>\u00a0<\/span><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><span>\u00a0<\/span>for tennis coverage you can trust.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>The former world No 24 told <a rel=\"noopener nofollow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.skysports.com\/tennis\/news\/12028\/13570655\/us-open-tennis-alex-eala-is-the-biggest-thing-to-come-out-of-the-philippines-since-legendary-boxer-manny-pacquiao\" target=\"_blank\">Sky Sports<\/a>, \u201cI\u2019ve never seen anything like it. The stadium, you could not get a seat. The noise, the excitement levels, and she just takes it all in her stride. And you could see in Washington what she brings to the court and she plays with such grace.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a certain class about her. I love her attitude. I love the way she goes after the ball. She\u2019s a very deceptive tennis player. Being a lefty, she\u2019s quite awkward, but that forehand\u2026 it\u2019s not a huge strike, but it does damage.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A lot of attention has focused on Eala\u2019s serve and how it is relatively underpowered compared to much of the WTA Tour.<\/p>\n<p>However, the youngster\u2019s lefty delivery, spin, placement and variation have drawn comparisons with Angelique Kerber, who did not have a particularly potent serve but still won three Grand Slams.<\/p>\n<p>And the fact that she is beating a host of top 10 players shows Eala is a big-match player.<\/p>\n<p>Croft continued, \u201cI would imagine that she has built up some kind of locker-room respect right now where you build a certain aura and then that counts for quite a lot on the tour as well because players don\u2019t want to face you because of the record that she\u2019s building up.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s something awkward about a lefty serve, a little bit like Kerber. I remember she didn\u2019t have a big serve, but it was so well placed into the court. But also when you put a lot of spin on it and it sometimes has less pace on it, you\u2019re forcing your opponents to generate pace and they start to get a bit jittery.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cShe keeps notching up the big wins, but she\u2019s also backing up the pressure wins. She plays under a lot of pressure with all of that excitement from the Filipino community. They turn out in their droves to watch her. That for some people would be a pressure, but she embraces it. She loves it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The 60-year-old was then asked if Eala could be a contender at the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/us-open\">US Open<\/a>, which starts on Sunday. Crofts stopped short of that but did say nobody will want to face her in New York over the next fortnight.<\/p>\n<p>She added, \u201cShe\u2019s obviously somebody who enjoys being on a big stage. There will be a lot of players that won\u2019t want to face her because she\u2019s very in form. And I think the hard courts really suit her game.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><strong>READ MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.tennis365.com\/tennis-features\/wta-us-open-points-sabalenka-rybakina-gauff-swiatek-anisimova-osaka-eala-drop\">US Open: How many points will Sabalenka, Rybakina, Gauff, Swiatek, Anisimova, Osaka, Eala drop?<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><!-- Article End --><\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/article>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>\u2018Never seen anything like it\u2019 \u2013 Former British No 1 explains what makes Alex Eala special Richie Mills 28 Aug 2026 11:00 PM Annabel Croft has sung the praises of Alex Eala Former British No 1 Annabel Croft believes that Alex Eala is building a \u201ccertain aura\u201d in the locker room and that her popularity [&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-2117286","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\/2117286","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=2117286"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2117286\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2117286"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2117286"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/analyse.optim.biz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2117286"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}