Alex Eala is the first to acknowledge that her serve “can be uncomfortable”, but she insists it is still a work in progress as she brushed off concerns that it is “holding her back”.

The Filipina continues her stunning rise in tennis as she has reached her first WTA 500 final at the Washington DC Open after beating Zheng Qinwen, Leylah Fernandez, Elina Svitolina and Naomi Osaka.

Despite her supposedly weak serve, Eala has dropped only one set during the tournament and that was in her first match against former world No 4 Zheng as she lost the opening set before winning the next 10.

She was broken only once by Osaka in the semi-final while she broke twice in both sets and generally had the upper hand when it came to serving, as her first-serve percentage was at 59.6% compared to the Japanese star’s 54.2%.

Eala also won 71.4% of first-serve points with Osaka on 59.4% while she dominated the second-serve points won with 78.9% against 48.1%, dropping only four points on her second serve over the two sets.

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Not bad for someone whose serve came under fire earlier in the week when former world No 1 Rennae Stubbs raised concerns over it.

“Eala’s serve will never win her a Grand Slam,” the four-time women’s doubles Grand Slam winner said on The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast. “I know people could say the same about Angie Kerber, but I feel that’s what’s holding Eala back.

“I think it’s also what’s holding Jessica Pegula back. Pegula’s second serve is very vulnerable against players who hit the ball hard. I still hope she can win a Grand Slam, but right now I simply don’t see it happening.”

Eala was asked about her serve after her win one-hour and 16-minute win over Osaka and knows there is work to do, but feels it allows her to use her other weapons.

“I think that my serve can be uncomfortable. I think I try to play around a lot with variety,” Eala said in her post-match press conference.

“Of course, it would be great if I had a serve that went 200 kilometres per hour. I’d love that also, but it’s a process. Who knows? I’m not going to put a cap on my serve. Maybe I will one day serve 200. You never know (smiling).

“I like to look at it as a multi-dimensional thing. I have a variety of weapons in my bag. I think it’s also a good thing that I don’t rely on my serve alone, although I’m standing by that it’s dependable sometimes.”