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Rusedski sees Eala as a future top-five threat if the serve improves
Rusedski believes Alex Eala can reach the top five if her serve takes another step.
Greg Rusedski has suggested that Alex Eala is not far from reaching the highest level of the women’s game, provided she can refine a couple of details in her attack. The former world No 4, speaking with a clear eye on the 2027 season, believes the 21-year-old can turn a relative weakness into a genuine asset, with her serve the main point of emphasis.
Even with Eala edging toward the top 20, the WTA rankings data still show where the margins remain. She is 58th for aces, 89th for service games won, and 62nd for second serve points won. On the return, the figures are also striking, with the WTA website placing her 95th in both return games won at 35.4% and return points won at 43.7%. Those numbers, in Rusedski’s view, sit alongside her clear ability to control matches from the baseline.
Rusedski’s praise came before the finish of her Washington Open final against Jessica Pegula, when he called the left-hander the “most exciting” player on the women’s tour. He argued that a small increase in pace on both serves, especially the second delivery, could help her move into the game’s elite.
He said on the latest episode of Off Court with Greg Rusedski, “From my point of view, the most exciting player on the WTA tour is Eala because of the way she plays; she’s fearless. She takes the ball early. She’s a lefty.
“The one area to win a major, I still think that she needs in her game, is to get that serve a little bit better, a little bit more powerful. And I was listening to [Andrea] Petkovic, who’s one of the best pundits in the world, talking about and comparing her to Eugenie Bouchard when Bouchard made her Grand Slam final, of how early she takes the ball, how aggressively she plays.
“But then with Eugenie, it kind of went off the rails a little bit where she didn’t have that pop on her serve and she couldn’t keep that up and certain injuries came in. But Eala, you feel there’s something different. Her mentality is so good. She’s so strong.
“So from my point of view, she’s a little bit of the dark horse. She’s not quite ready, in my opinion, to win a major, but we have seen stranger things. I think maybe next year, if she can get that improvement on the serve, then she’s definitely in the mix because the rest of her game is there.”
After Washington, Eala moves on to the Canadian Masters in Toronto, where she is seeded 25th and will meet either Alycia Parks or Victoria Jimenez Kasintseva in round two. Although she is not due on court until Wednesday, her ticket allocation has already sold out, another sign of her growing appeal.
Rusedski also drew a comparison with Serena Williams in that respect, and said her left-handed serve still gives her a useful escape route even if it is not yet a major weapon.
The former British No 1 continued, “I believe for her first match in Toronto, it’s a full sell-out, you know, opening match, which is unheard of. The only person who was doing that before her was Serena Williams. That’s how big she is. And for me, she is nothing but a positive for the game.
“And if that serve can get up to where second serves hitting about 75 to 80 miles an hour at the first, probably going about 105, she’s in the top five. And then we’re talking about her winning majors. So that’s the area where she’s got to get better.
“Her team knows that if everybody’s talking about it in the media, she’s clever enough, she’s got a great coaching staff, they know these things have to change and they’ll build it up gradually and they’ll get there in time.
“And we all have little things we’ve got to keep on working on. But the nice thing is she’s a lefty. Being a lefty, you can get away with a little bit less speed because of the spin of the ball, the way it slides. There’s not too many lefties on the WTA tour at the moment in the women’s game.”
Eala ultimately rallied to win in three sets, becoming the first Filipina to win a WTA Tour title. She also entered the top 20 for the first time.
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Raducanu rules out US Open as injury doubts deepen
Raducanu will miss the US Open after a stress fracture, with her 2026 season now in doubt.
Emma Raducanu has confirmed that she will miss the US Open after suffering a stress fracture before Wimbledon, extending a difficult 2026 campaign shaped by recurring fitness problems.
The British player has spent much of the season dealing with setbacks. She was sidelined for the entire clay court swing and grass court swing, and earlier in the year she was also forced out by illness. Those interruptions have limited her time on court, even as she has continued to show flashes of resilience when healthy enough to compete.
Raducanu has still managed to reach two WTA finals in 2026, at the Translyvania Open and Queen’s. Given the amount of time she has lost, those runs stand out as notable achievements, though they have come against the backdrop of a campaign repeatedly disrupted by injury.
Her next decision may be as important as the one to skip New York. The suggestion has been that she should consider shutting down her season altogether and bypassing the Asian swing. With a stress fracture in the mix, travelling straight into more events would bring little physical benefit, regardless of the financial appeal linked to fees and sponsorships.
There is also a longer-term calculation. Six months away from the WTA Tour would allow her to begin the 2027 season under a protected ranking. That could matter if she falls out of the top 100 by missing the rest of the year, while a return fully fit could help her climb again.
Annabel Croft addressed the issue on Sky Sports, saying: “It wouldn’t be a surprise if she made that decision [close down her season],” and adding: “Your health is your wealth, as they say, and that is the most important factor and she just needs to get herself fit.”
The main factor that could complicate an early end to the season is Raducanu’s new deal with UNIQLO, which could make an Asian appearance more likely.
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Raducanu and Korda join US Open withdrawal list as injuries mount
Raducanu and Korda are out of the 2026 US Open as the withdrawal list grows.
The 2026 US Open is edging closer, but the season’s last Grand Slam has already lost two more notable entrants as the withdrawal list continues to grow.
Main-draw singles play at the 146th edition of the event begins on Sunday 30 August and runs through Sunday 13 September, when the men’s final is scheduled to close the tournament. The hard-court major is held at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows, New York. Carlos Alcaraz and Aryna Sabalenka are the defending men’s and women’s champions.
At present, seven players have withdrawn across the men’s and women’s main-draw singles entry lists.
Emma Raducanu, the 2021 US Open champion who famously lifted the title as an 18-year-old qualifier ranked 150th, will not play this year because of a stress fracture in her right leg. The issue has kept the 23-year-old Brit out of action since her Queen’s Club Championships final defeat in June. She had already withdrawn from Toronto and Cincinnati, and she has not yet commented on pulling out of the US Open.
Sebastian Korda also confirmed his absence after revealing last week that he had undergone back surgery. His withdrawal was confirmed on Monday.
“It’s been four months off-court managing pain in my back with a lot of pressure on my sciatica,” Korda wrote in an Instagram post.
“After different treatments we decided to have a swift surgery that has finally relieved the pain. What a relief.
“Now it is time to recover, heal and get back to work. Thanks everyone for the support. See ya’ll soon!”
The 26-year-old American has not competed since his four-set loss to Martin Landaluce at the Miami Open in March, a match that came after he beat Carlos Alcaraz in the previous round.
Raducanu is now the sixth woman on the withdrawal list, while Korda remains the only man to pull out so far.
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Eala completes comeback as Pegula reflects on Washington final loss
Eala won after a delay and Pegula explained why the Washington final slipped away.
Alex Eala capped a memorable week at the Washington Open by overturning Jessica Pegula in a dramatic final that was delayed by thunderstorm disruption. The WTA 500 title match was pushed back a day, and when play resumed on Monday, Pegula held a set and had the second set on serve, putting her in position as the clear favorite.
Instead, the match shifted sharply. Pegula’s level dipped, Eala seized control, and the Filipina produced a composed finish to win the last two sets 6-4, 6-0. The result handed Eala the first WTA title of her career and left Pegula to assess a performance shaped by unforced errors and difficulty handling Eala’s serve.
Pegula spoke about that challenge in her post-match press conference, where she described how the final unfolded from her perspective.
“For whatever reason it felt like I was returning much better yesterday than I was today. I do feel like today she was going more for percentage than trying to go bigger and hit her spot, so I was seeing less second serves,” said Pegula.
“In the warm-up, I think everyone that plays her would probably be working on a slower serve because her serve is definitely slower and you always practice how the person plays, so if they have a big serve I am practicing with people who are hitting their serve bigger, so I was trying to do more of that today which didn’t really seem to help very much!”
Both players now move on to the Canadian Open, with their campaigns expected to begin on Wednesday’s order of play. Eala, now world No 20 after her Washington victory, will meet Alycia Parks in the second round after a first-round bye. Parks advanced by beating qualifier Victoria Jiménez Kasintseva and enters the match ranked 41 places below Eala, though she already owns a win over the 21-year-old, having beaten her 0-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round of the Australian Open at the start of the 2026 season.
Pegula will try to respond against Magdalena Frech in Toronto after the Pole defeated Léolia Jeanjean in her opening match.
Raducanu rules out US Open as injury doubts deepen
Eala and Pegula face quick turnaround after Washington Open success
Alex Eala’s Washington triumph raises US Open expectations
Alcaraz Confronts On‑court Microphones During US Open Practice Ahead of Opelka Match
Raducanu Arrives at US Open With Momentum After Strong Hard‑Court Swing
