Critics are calling Alex Eala’s recent losses to lower-ranked players a slump, something that tennis players experience as a result of burn-out or distractions or internal team dissension or an inability to adjust to changing court conditions. Could it just be a hiccup in Eala’s unravelling journey to superstardom?
Remember that Eala’s only 21. While she’s revealed an astonishing level of maturity particularly in putting perspective on how to deal with overwhelming adulation from a massive fan base, the fact is it takes a lot of grounding to stay on her feet from waltzing on Cloud Nine. John Lennon was 25 when he declared that The Beatles were more popular than Jesus in 1966. The Fab Four were at the height of their popularity and the whole world was in awe of The Beatles who unfortunately, couldn’t handle the immense attention. Eventually, the band folded up in 1970 even as there was never a doubt that The Beatles were in a class of their own.
Eala is far from imagining she’s on top of the world and surely won’t go the way of The Beatles. But the popularity that engulfed The Beatles in the 1960s is similar to what Eala is experiencing now. It has to be a staggering feeling. Beatlemania was then, Ealamania is now. Eala has landed on the front page of The New York Times, is in demand for interviews by high-profile celebrities, is mobbed by fans wherever she goes, enjoys lucrative endorsement deals and is invited to attend big-time media events. Is she distracted by all this attention? Is she losing sight of her game and what brought her to this stage in the first place? Is she compromising her recovery time from match to match to do social rounds?
Eala’s recent losses are disturbing if not alarming. At the Singapore Open, she bowed to WTA No. 180 Tatiana Prozorova. At the Asian Games, she lost to No. 85 Wang Xiyu. At the Wuhan Open, she was beaten by No. 217 Shi Han. The string of defeats happened within a 2 1/2 week period. In those matches, Eala won the first set then dropped the next two. She started strong but finished weak, lacking energy down the stretch. Against Prozorova, she had 45 unforced errors and seven double faults. Against Han, she committed 37 unforced errors and compiled six double faults. Those are tell-tale signs of ebbing concentration and losing steam. For a player who has a 9-5 record against top 10 players and is ranked No. 18, this collapse is a shock. What’s going wrong with Eala?
If she was taken lightly before, now she’s a target. Opponents scout her carefully, know what to do to neutralize her strengths, anticipate her moves and wear her down. More than ever, Eala has to display a tougher serve which is still a work in progress. What adjustments are necessary to regain her advantage? Where is her long-time coach Joan Bosch? She needs expert guidance to steer her back on track. Eala is set to play at the Ningbo Open on Monday, the Toray Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on Oct. 26 and the Hong Kong Open on Nov. 2. There’s time to regroup and refocus. The challenge is to bounce back with conviction.