Alex Eala’s hopes of another miracle run at the Miami Open were quickly extinguished by Karolina Muchova on Monday.
Eala came into the contest riding a wave of confidence after defeating Laura Siegemund and Magda Linette in the previous rounds.
However, her run was swiftly ended by world number 14 Karolina Muchova, who defeated Eala 6-0, 6-2 in exactly one hour.
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Eala simply could not match the power of her Czech opponent, who won 80 per cent of her first and second serve points.
During the match, Coco Gauff’s former coach identified where Eala must improve moving forwards.
Brad Gilbert says Alex Eala needs to ‘dramatically improve’ her serve
Brad Gilbert [pictured below], the former coach of Andy Murray, Andre Agassi and Coco Gauff, is one of the most successful and well-respected coaches in tennis history.
The American, who played a starring role in the success of Andre Agassi during the 1990s, paid close attention to Alex Eala’s match against Karolina Muchova on Monday.
While Eala was trailing 0-6, 0-3 to the Czech star, Gilbert identified the Filipina’s serve as an area that requires significant improvement moving forwards.
“Muchova [is] all over Eala, 9-0,” Gilbert said in a post on X [formerly Twitter].
“For someone of her height, and especially being lefty, [she] needs to dramatically improve [her] first and second serve.
“Shows how good other parts of her game are.”
Eala struggled to impose her will on serve throughout, making 52 per cent of her first serves and winning only 36 per cent of her first-serve points.
In fact, Eala only won 18 points on her serve – 10 less than Muchova did.
Eala will have an extended amount of time to rest and recuperate ahead of her next event, which is scheduled to take place in two weeks.
| Statistical Area | Muchova | Eala |
| Aces | 0 | 0 |
| Double Faults | 1 | 2 |
| First Serve % | 69 | 52 |
| First Serve Points Won % | 80 | 36 |
| Second Serve Points Won % | 80 | 56 |
| Break Points Converted | 5/5 | 0/0 |
| Points Won on Serve | 28 | 18 |
Alex Eala’s next tournament
As things stand, Eala’s next event will be the Linz Open, which is set to take place from April 6 to 12.
The tournament, last won by Ekaterina Alexandrova, was first held in 1991 as a Tier Five event, and was won by Manuela Maleeva-Fragnière.
The event has risen in status since then, becoming a WTA 500 event for the first time in 2024.
At the 2026 edition, Eala will compete against the likes of Barbora Krejcikova, Emma Navarro and Daria Kasatkina for the title.
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Ekaterina Alexandrova is also set to return to defend her title.
Eala will hope to register a strong performance in Linz after losing significant WTA ranking points in Miami.
Following her loss on Monday, Eala is set to fall 16 places to world number 45.
