Alexandra Eala has shocked the tennis world with her stunning run at the Washington Open, where she claimed her maiden WTA title.
Eala had previously shown glimpses of her potential with a handful of wins against top 10 players, but she took it to another level at the Washington Open.
The 21-year-old defeated the top three seeds at the WTA 1000 tournament, along with the defending champion.
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The biggest upset of all arrived in the final against top seed Jessica Pegula, particularly given that Eala lost the first set before coming back to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-0.
And particularly surprising in that superb victory were her serve statistics, which suggest that many people are making a mistake with the Filipina star.
Alexandra Eala’s serve stats vs Jessica Pegula in Washington
Earlier this year, tennis legend Martina Navratilova told Eala she needs to improve her serve, which has often come under fire and been deemed not strong enough to compete at the very top.
Furthermore, tennis coach Patrick Mouratoglou has labelled Eala’s second serve “really strange”, while Pegula specifically prepared for her opponent’s slower serve ahead of their final.
Notably, Eala did commit three double faults and failed to record an ace in the Washington final, compared to figures of four and one respectively from the American.
However, she did essentially keep the pace with her opponent with her 1st serve figure of 64.3%, while Eala massively outshone Pegula with her 1st serve points won tally of 84.4%.
| Jessica Pegula | Alexandra Eala | |
| 4 | Aces | 0 |
| 1 | Double faults | 3 |
| 64.8% 46/71 |
1st serve | 64.3% 45/70 |
| 56.5% 26/46 |
1st serve points won | 84.4% 38/45 |
| 56% 14/25 |
2nd serve points won | 44% 11/25 |
| 9 | Break points faced | 3 |
| 44.4% 4/9 |
Break points saved | 33.3% 1/3 |
| 13 | Service games played | 13 |
In contrast, the Washington champion posted figures of 43.5% and 44% for 1st and 2nd return points won respectively.
Eala also outclassed Pegula with her total return points won figure of 43.7%, but arguably really pushing her over the line was her total service points tally of 70%.
READ MORE: Why Alexandra Eala’s win in Washington was extra special and she deserves loud applause
Eala was already one of the most popular WTA players before Washington, but she has since gained further support following her maiden title.
Tickets for her match against Pegula sold out within an hour of Eala reaching the final, with the same scenario now emerging at the Canadian Open.
Almost immediately after her match time versus Alycia Parks was announced, tickets for the second round clash on Center Court were sold out.
Eala has taken the tennis world by storm, and fortunately fans have two chances to see her in action early as she also plays doubles in Toronto.
She has decided to link up with WTA legend Venus Williams, with the pair taking on Liudmila Samsonova and Miyu Kato in their opening match.
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