Former world No 4 Greg Rusedski has backed Alex Eala to “figure it out” on clay after the Filipina star’s one-sided loss at the 2026 Madrid Open.
Eala suffered a 6-2, 6-1 defeat to world No 21 Elise Mertens in the second round at the WTA 1000 tournament in Madrid on Friday.
The world No 44 lost her serve five times and was unable to break the 30-year-old Belgian, while she won 38 of the 99 points played.
The 21-year-old defeated Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova 6-3, 6-3 in her opening round match in the Spanish capital.
Eala was beaten 6-1, 6-4 by Leylah Fernandez in the first round at the Stuttgart Open last week. She started her clay campaign at the WTA 500 in Linz, where she beat Julia Grabher before falling to Jelena Ostapenko.
Speaking on the latest Off Court Cuts episode of his podcast, Rusedski assessed Eala’s clay-court season so far and the convincing nature of her last two defeats.
“Well, it’s the harder hitters. It’s being on tour week in and week out. And you’re going to take some bruising losses,” said the 1997 US Open runner-up.
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“If you look at the one she lost the week previous in Stuttgart to Leylah Fernandez… I mean, she (Fernandez) pushed Rybakina all the way.
“So, the losses she (Eala) takes are not bad losses, it’s sometimes the scorelines. And this is part of the learning experience.
“She’s too good a player, she’ll figure it out. And what I like is her resilience.
“And if you’re a fan out there, just be a little patient. It might take a little bit longer for her, but she’s got a great team of people around her. And she’s got to find solutions. So don’t get too discouraged.”
Discussing Eala earlier this month, Rusedski said: “For me, I’m always optimistic about her.
“I always think she’s challenging herself. She has a great team of people around her. She’s fully committed and she’s got great support.
“And everything’s kind of new at the moment. We’ve talked about, yes, the serve needs to be better. Yes, when she comes [up against] a big hitter, sometimes she struggles and gets hit off the court. But you gotta consistently put yourself out there.
“She’s gonna get stronger physically, she’s gonna get more tactically astute, she’s gonna start hitting the ball harder.”
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