A legendary former coach of Serena and Venus Williams thinks Alex Eala’s match against Amanda Anisimova at the 2026 Cincinnati Open will be a “great learning test.”

Eala, 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.

It will be Eala’s 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.

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.

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.

Rick Macci, who has coached five players who went on to become world No 1, looked ahead to Eala’s showdown with Anisimova.

“EALA versus ANISIMOVA will give everybody a snapshot in real time of the Philippine machine and her movement and defense,” the American wrote in a post on his X/Twitter account.

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“For 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.

“When 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.”

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.

“Ask 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,” Macci wrote.

“Tennis 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.”

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