Alex Eala’s sensational form over the summer months was rewarded with her first-ever WTA title at the Washington Open.
Eala defeated Elina Svitolina, Naomi Osaka, and Jessica Pegula back-to-back to claim her first success on the WTA Tour, in what is one of the most impressive runs to a 500 title in recent memory.
That result came off the back of a stunning grass court swing, which saw her win the Birmingham Open Challenger, reach the semi finals of the Berlin Open, and earn her first-ever fourth round appearance at a Grand Slam at Wimbledon.
Eala has been heavily praised by the tennis world and the compliments continue to come as she makes her way to the Canadian Open, where she will play Alycia Parks in her first match.
Speaking on The Big T podcast, Andrea Petkovic compared Eala to former Wimbledon finalist and world No 5 Eugenie Bouchard after her performances at the Washington Open.
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“Well, she reminds me, I said it on air, she reminds me a lot of Eugenie Bouchard when she was at her very best, plus some added elements, although some people forget that Genie used to be very good at coming to the net,” said the former doubles star.
“People blocked that out completely. But Genie would take the ball so early. She would go up the line the moment she could and then try to transition to the net. The one thing Alex has a little bit better, she has much better angles and she has the drop shot, right?
“She loves to play the drop shot, but generally she’s like Genie Bouchard 2.6, right? Plus she’s a lefty. Genie had a better serve, but because Alex Eala is a lefty, she really has some leverage there.
“We talked about the serve could get better, and I still think it can, but she’s doing a great job in setting up her plus one shot. So, so it’s amazing.”
Petkovic comparing Eala with Bouchard is high praise indeed. As well as reaching the Wimbledon final and earning a career ranking high of world No 5, Bouchard also reached the semi finals of the Australian Open and Roland Garros.
She defeated the likes of Jelena Jankovic, Simona Halep, Caroline Wozniacki, and Angelique Kerber during her short run at the top of the WTA Tour, which was unfortunately cut short by a litany of injury issues.
If the rising Filipina star can go someway to emulating the Canadian star, she will have a very impressive career indeed.
