Alex Eala a connu un Wimbledon mémorable, mais elle a été battue au quatrième tour par Jasmine Paolini.
En route vers le quatrième tour, Eala avait battu Renata Zarazúa, Maya Joint et Iga Swiatek, mais Paolini avait trop de qualités pour elle sur le Centre Court.
Paolini a nécessité trois sets pour renverser Eala, mettant fin à une période de gazon très prometteuse pour la jeune star philippine de 21 ans.
Eala a remporté l’Open de Birmingham et a atteint les demi-finales de l’Open de Berlin avant son passage jusqu’au quatrième tour du Grand Chelem sur gazon.
Elle occupe actuellement le meilleur classement de sa carrière, mondial numéro 28 dans le classement WTA, grâce à cette montée sur gazon, mais Martina Navratilova a néanmoins exhorté la jeune étoile philippine à améliorer son jeu.
Speaking on The Tennis Channel about Eala’s clash with Paolini in the Wimbledon fourth round, the multi-time Grand Slam champion said: “Her serve. It’s too much of a puffball. Swiatek didn’t handle it well, but Paolini did. She was attacking the second serve.
“But even the first serve was like 80, 85. She can hit it 105, but she doesn’t. She needs to change the grip and use the leftyness more. She was not slicing. She was hitting most of her serve to the Paolini forehand, not the backhand with a slice.
“So the serve is where she can gain the most, because she’s tall enough. Her serve should be as good, if not better than Paolini, because Paolini is shorter, so work on that.”
Eala’s serve has long been her biggest weakness, although, at just 21-years-old, the Filipina star has plenty of time to put in the work on the practice courts.
Navratilova is right, however, about Swiatek’s inability to deal with Eala’s serve in the Wimbledon third round.
Speaking in her Wimbledon press conference after his defeat to Eala, Swiatek revealed just how tough she found it to return Eala’s serve.
“I think it was tougher mentally for me to accept these missed returns from the slow serves,” said the World No 3. “I got to say it’s much tougher to return a serve like that than a normal serve.”
“I know it was slow. I know exactly how it’s going to come to me. It’s such a different rhythm than what I usually have a chance to return.”
Eala will next head to North America for the hardcourt swing. The star is on the entry list for the Washington Open, which is set to begin on July 27th. It will be Eala’s first-ever appearance at the tournament.
