Alex Eala will need to do something in a different way if she is to get revenge against Diana Shnaider as they meet again in Tokyo.
Eala lost to Shnaider 7-5, 6-4 last week at the Ningbo Open in her first-ever match against the Russian.
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Just one week later with both gamers competing at the Tokyo Open, Eala beat Mika Stojsavljevic and Talia Gibson to attain the quarter-finals in the Japanese capital, where she will face third seed Shnaider again.
As Eala seeks revenge on Shnaider in Tokyo, it is clear what she wants to improve to get the higher hand on this event.
Alex Eala has proven how she wants to serve against Diana Shnaider
It has been a big breakout season in 2026 for Eala, who won her first title at the Washington Open, reached the fourth spherical of Wimbledon and therefore turned a prime 20 participant.
Despite all of the success she has achieved this yr, there has been a lot of dialogue surrounding Eala needing to improve her serve, which is something that was obvious during her defeat to Shnaider in Ningbo.
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In this match, Eala had an alarming first serve proportion and first serve win proportion, which was only just over 50% and made it tough for the Filipina to maintain serve, displayed by the six instances Shnaider broke her.
While Eala’s serve wants some technical tweaks, which will seemingly not be made until the low season, she has proven that it can be considerably more efficient than it was in Ningbo. This consists of in her most latest match, as Eala hit 9 aces against Gibson.
This was the most aces Eala has hit in a single match in 2026, and she also had a much greater first serve proportion and first serve win proportion than against Shnaider. There is no doubt that Shnaider is a higher participant than Gibson and will seemingly possess a better menace on return, but Eala’s first serve proportion should not truly be impacted by her opponent.
|
Alex Eala’s serve |
Vs Diana Shnaider (Ningbo) |
Vs Talia Gibson (Tokyo) |
|
Aces |
1 |
9 |
|
Double Faults |
1 |
2 |
|
First Serve % |
58% |
65% |
|
First Serve Win % |
51% |
72% |
|
Second Serve Win % |
47% |
48% |
|
Games Broken |
6 |
2 |
However, the serve may not be the only problem for Eala, who has struggled against left-handed gamers like Shnaider. Eala, herself, is left-handed, but she has never overwhelmed any of the other left-handed gamers who are presently ranked inside the prime 100.
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That is not the only problem for Eala, who has lost 9 of her last 10 matches against gamers ranked between 11 and 20. Shnaider is presently the world quantity 13 and will be hoping to worsen this report for Eala when they face each other again in Tokyo on Friday, October 30.
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