NAGOYA — Alex Eala settled for bronze at the 2026 Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya, Japan, after falling as the top seed and gold-medal favourite in the semi-finals. The Filipina lost to Wang Xiyu 6-3, 3-6, 2-6, while Kazakhstan's Yulia Putintseva took the other bronze after losing the second semi-final to second seed Zhang Shuai.
Serena Williams' former coach Rick Macci delivered his verdict on X after the defeat, praising Eala's ball-striking and mentality. "The Philippine Machine can beat anybody anytime anywhere. Unreal clean ball striker. Can control the center of the court. Can eat the second serve for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Mentally has that calm gene. So, big picture, she checks a lot of boxes for the top ten and big upsets in big events because she can hurt you," Macci said.
"But because her movement is average, her defence becomes limited at times. Sab [Aryna Sabalenka] and Ryba [Elena Rybakina] are average movers, and they also run the show, deal the cards, and deliver the mail like the Eala, but the X factor and wildcard is that they have the two best serves on the WTA Tour, which helps so much more," he added. Macci believes Eala's serving problems expose that average movement, while elite servers like Rybakina and Sabalenka can get away with it.
The numbers back up that assessment. While Rybakina and Sabalenka rank in the top five or top 10 in many serving metrics this year, Eala ranks outside the top 50 in all but one — double faults, the only unwanted serving statistic. Macci said Eala checks "a lot of boxes" to reach the top 10, but without serve improvement she may not realise her full potential. She currently sits 18th in the WTA rankings and has beaten seven top-10 players this season.
Eala skipped this week's WTA 1000 event in Beijing to play the Asian Games, risking a $10,000 fine, and will return at the Wuhan Open, the final WTA 1000 tournament of the season. The 2026 Wuhan Open begins on October 12, where she will compete as the 16th seed and receive a bye into the second round. She failed to qualify last year after losing to Moyuka Uchijima in three sets, and lost to Katerina Siniakova in the first round the year before.