Alex Eala has already won two matches at this year’s Madrid Open as she finds her footing on the clay.
The Filipina made a winning start in the Spanish capital on Wednesday, when Eala defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in the first round.
How would you rate Alex Eala’s first-round win /10?
She beat a former semi-finalist in straight sets!
Then, on Thursday, she reached the second round of the doubles tournament alongside her close friend, Zeynep Sonmez.
Speaking to the media, Eala’s coach, Joan Bosch, has highlighted the area of her game that has the most ‘room for improvement’, on clay.
Juan Bosch says they are focusing on Alex Eala’s serve in training
Appearing as a guest on ‘Game Set Madrid‘, Bosch shared his thoughts on Eala’s game.
“There are several ideas that we have in the team,” he said (translated from Spanish).
“The clay, I think, is where she is ‘greenest’, where there is the most room for improvement.
“Specifically on the clay, I think she’s moving much better, sliding, which when it doesn’t come naturally isn’t easy.
“We didn’t have a lot of time to prepare on the clay, because personally, I like her to play a lot of tournaments, and coming from Miami, we only had one week at Rafa Nadal’s academy.
“During that week, she did very well.
“Above all, we’re working on the serve, not just on hard, but on clay.”
Alex Eala’s serving stats (2026)
- Aces – 19 (83rd on WTA Tour)
- 1st Serve % – 64% (92nd on WTA Tour)
- 1st Serve points won % – 61.4% (113th on WTA Tour)
- 2nd Serve % – 47.7% (51st on WTA Tour)
- Service points won % – 56.4% (82nd on WTA Tour)
- Break points saved % – 48.4% (155th on WTA Tour)
- Service games won % – 64.2% (92nd on WTA Tour)
Fans of the Filipina will be glad to hear that she is working on her serve.
The shot is arguably the weakest in her arsenal, and was highlighted by Sky Sports pundit Colin Fleming after her win over Pavlyuchenkova.
Will Alex Eala’s serve stop her from winning a Grand Slam?
She only won 37% of her second serve points in her Madrid opener…
Bosch knows there is work to be done, but was pleased with Eala’s first-round win.
“It was a difficult match; the first round is always complicated,” he said.
“Especially against a player [Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova] who has a good track record on clay, she’s a former Roland Garros finalist, and I think she was ranked 11th in the world.
“But we didn’t know her very well, because at least since I’ve been with Alex, we’ve never played her.
“Personally, I am very happy [with Alex Eala’s performance], and, of course, she is too.”
Eala will return for her second-round match on Friday, where she will meet Belgium’s Elise Mertens.
Should she win that match, she could meet Karolina Pliskova or Maria Sakkari in the third round.
Joan Bosch shares what Alex Eala is really like behind the scenes
Bosch was also asked what Eala is really like, having coached her for several years.
“Alex is a very special person, because it is true that she has a very good character, she is a very level-headed person, and she always has very clear, organised ideas,” he said.
“If I had to say something about Alex, in all the years I’ve been coaching young people, not only professionals but also non-professionals, is that she’s capable of learning, which is a very complicated thing.
“And on top of that, she does it calmly, which is even more difficult.
“All of us in the tennis world know that the emotional side is becoming increasingly difficult to control.
“Alex is a person who knows how to learn. Something that I value a lot.
“For me, personally, it is a privilege and an honour to train Alex, because Alex is 100% a product of the academy.
“Alex was one of the first players the academy took a chance on, and it’s doubly satisfying to see that she’s managed to reach 45 or 44 [in the world].”
Official WTA Rankings
| Rank | Name | Country | Points |
| 40 | Jelena Ostapenko | Latvia | 1,314 |
| 41 | Elisabetta Cocciaretto | Italy | 1,310 |
| 42 | Katerina Siniakova | Czechia | 1,299 |
| 43 | Peyton Stearns | USA | 1,296 |
| 44 | Alex Eala | Philippines | 1,285 |
| 45 | Marketa Vondrousova | Czechia | 1,263 |
| 46 | Lois Boisson | France | 1,259 |
| 47 | Laura Siegemund | Germany | 1,217 |
| 48 | McCartney Kessler | USA | 1,214 |
| 49 | Dayana Yastremska | Ukraine | 1,200 |
Eala sits 44th in the world rankings, but is provisionally up to 41st, having defended the points she earned last year.
It remains to be seen how far Eala can go in Madrid, but you certainly won’t want to miss any of the action.
