Alex Eala's alarming stats from shock Singapore Open exit proves she's 'liability' in major area
Alex Eala has been told she must improve a key area of her game to reach the "next level" after suffering a shock exit from the Singapore Open.
The 21-year-old kicked off the Asian Swing with a two-set-to-one defeat against world No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova on Thursday as her worrying run of form continued.
After winning her first WTA singles event at the Washington Open in August, Eala has won just five of her last nine matches, with a key issue preventing her from reaching the next level.
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Alex Eala must improve her serve game to win a Grand Slam
Eala's match against Prozorova was packed with drama, while delivering plenty of twists and turns as a huge crowd attempted to roar her on to victory.
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The Filipina was unable to deliver in front of an expectant crowd, though, and one statistic painted a perfect picture of her struggles.
In a frantic contest that lasted three hours and nine minutes, Eala was only able to win six of her 17 break points, compared to her Russian opponent, who created 12 break point chances and converted seven of them to win the match.
A widely recognised issue for the youngster is her service game, and this problem continued at the Singapore Open, as she recorded a whopping seven double faults and only won 52 per cent of her points on first serve.
The narrative was similar to her US Open defeat to Iva Jovic, where the 18-year-old broke her serve on nine occasions to win the clash in three sets.
Eala's unconventional serve has sparked major debate on the WTA tour, including from the legendary John McEnroe, who believes the WTA No. 18 will not reach the top of her game unless she transforms her biggest weakness into a strength.
"I’ll start by saying the sky’s the limit for her,” McEnroe said via Tennis365.
“In tennis you need the full package. You need the movement you need, you know, that’s obviously extremely important in tennis with men and the women.
“Is she a great athlete? Yes, but to be that A-plus, that’s where you get found out if you are not at that level.
“Not everyone’s six one or six feet like (Elena) Rybakina or (Aryna) Sabalenka 5’11. Not everyone is as fast as Coco Gauff. That’s the type of thing that would bring Eala to the next level. of thing like bring her, excuse me, bring her to the next level.”
When asked what area of her game she needs to improve the most, the former three-time Wimbledon champion claimed that her serve is a "liability".
"If she wants to win one of these majors, she’s got to improve the serve. It’s a liability. It’s gotten better, but, you know, there’s more to come.”
What Alex Eala is planning to do after Tatiana Prozovora defeat
Eala lost to someone ranked outside of the top 100 for the first time since the 2025 Guangzhou Open.
On that occasion, she tasted defeat to world No. 305 Claire Liu. Following this latest setback, the Filipina already plans to "analyse" where it went wrong for her against Prozovora.
"I think Tatiana [Prozorova] played really well today. But yeah, first I think I have to, like every loss, accept the fact that maybe she performed better today, and then take the time to analyse, take the time to learn," she admitted.
"I fought; I did everything I could on the court, but I think with my team it’s just going to be… We didn’t perform how we wanted, because of A, B, and C, and then get back on court and work on A, B, and C.
"Try to do better for the next match."
The next WTA event Eala is scheduled to play at starts on October 6, when she bids to win the Wuhan Open in China.
Thomas Griffin