Legendary coach Rick Macci has assessed that one area of Alex Eala’s game “needs reconstructive surgery” as he also made a ranking prediction.
Eala extended her winning streak to seven matches with a hard-fought 6-3, 5-7, 6-4 victory over world No 70 Caty McNally in the third round of the Canadian Open on Friday.
The Filipina star defeated 71st-ranked Alycia Parks in her opening match at the WTA 1000 tournament in Toronto.
Eala arrived in Canada after she won five matches to capture her maiden WTA Tour title at the WTA 500 in Washington DC.
Macci, a former coach of Serena and Venus Williams, analysed Eala’s game and backed the 21-year-old to become a top five player.
“Her movement is the X factor on the road to the mountain top,” Macci wrote in a post on his X/Twitter account.
“The PHILIPPINE MACHINE controls and dictate a lot but when not her agility and mobility can be bought.
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“No player checks every box but Alex has enough firepower to hug the baseline and take away time and hit laser angles on a dime. Top 5 is around the bend as her new best friend.”
In another tweet, Macci doubled down on his praise for Eala’s baseline firepower while arguing the left-hander should make a technical change to her serve.
“The Philippine Machine is earning a lot of green and her on the rise firepower is some of the best we have seen,” wrote the American.
“Her movement can be exploited and make her pay but because of her elite ball striking she still has the final say.
“Her serve needs reconstructive surgery to become a laser and if this happens she add another taser.”
Eala climbed to a career-high ranking of world No 20 following her title run in Washington, and she is up to 14th in the Live WTA Rankings after her two victories in Toronto.
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