Former Grand Slam finalist offers to be Alex Eala’s new coach after her exit from the US Open

The Filipina was bidding to reach the fourth round of a major for the second time in her career after managing it at Wimbledon earlier in the summer.

Alexandra Eala will win __ WTA titles during her career

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Jovic, ranked 14th in the world, will take on Cincinnati Open champion Coco Gauff for a place in the quarterfinals.

Many have pinpointed the serve as Eala‘s biggest weakness, but former US Open finalist Greg Rusedski thinks he knows exactly how to improve it.

Greg Rusedski discusses Alex Eala’s need to improve her serve

“I think the serve is the engine for everything because it allows you the first strike,” said Rusedski in an episode of his podcast, ‘Off Court with Greg‘.

“And if I’m looking at her serve, I think her elbow position and throwing position need to get better, as well as the way she starts the motion, because there’s not enough tilt, in my opinion, especially with the front shoulder and the back shoulder.

“So it’s too square. And when you’re square, it’s really hard. You’d never throw a ball like that.

“For me, that’s the first thing I’d work on, because if you can change that angle, which isn’t that difficult a thing to do, but it’s making it a habit that takes a little bit longer, then she can use the explosiveness of the elbow to throw and loosen up the wrist on the serve, which would definitely get her a few MPH.

“I’d love to have a crack at it. I don’t know if I’d ever be invited to do so.

Who has surprised you the most at the US Open so far and why?

“But during the offseason, that would be something I would be very interested in doing because if she gets the serve, it just opens up everything. I mean, her groundstrokes are immaculate. Her return of serve is exceptional. Her movement is great, and she reads the game exceptionally well.

“So if you added that on to her, all of a sudden, she’s cracking the top five if you get the extra speed and accuracy, because she’s not going to lose matches as she did to Jovic, where she lost serve, I believe, eight or nine times.

“Even though the returns were exceptional, she cuts that in half to four breaks instead of eight, and all of a sudden, that’s a routine match.

“And that’s the difference between being 18 in the world and being top five in the world, which is a big jump.

“I think she will get there, but that’s something that I’d be fascinated to work with her on because, being a lefty, I might know about it. I had a reasonably decent serve during my time.”

Alex Eala’s serving statistics against Iva Jovic at the US Open

Eala’s match with Jovic was certainly not a masterclass in serving, with a total of 37 break point opportunities being created.

Of that tally, 17 were created by Jovic, and the teenager managed to convert nine of them.

Eala served just three aces past Jovic and recorded five double faults, while putting up an indifferent first serve percentage of 64%.

She won 56% of points on her first serve and 41% of points on her second serve.

Across three rounds at the US Open, Eala faced 28 break points, but only conceded two breaks of serve in rounds one and two.

Her serving struggles were amplified when faced with Jovic, who is remarkable on return.