{"id":2579,"date":"2026-08-01T20:09:27","date_gmt":"2026-08-01T20:09:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2579"},"modified":"2026-08-01T20:09:27","modified_gmt":"2026-08-01T20:09:27","slug":"serena-williams-coach-explains-why-victoria-mboko-can-win-a-grand-slam-but-alex-eala-cannot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/?p=2579","title":{"rendered":"Serena Williams\u2019 coach explains why Victoria Mboko can win a Grand Slam but Alex Eala cannot"},"content":{"rendered":"

Serena Williams<\/a>\u2019 former coach believes Victoria Mboko has the \u2018skill\u2019 to win a Grand Slam title one day, but argues that rival Alex Eala\u2019s game will \u2018never\u2019 allow her to achieve the same feat without major improvements.<\/span><\/p>\n

Over the past 12 months, Mboko<\/a> and Eala<\/a> have emerged as two of the brightest young stars on the WTA Tour, with both enjoying breakthrough campaigns that have propelled them up the rankings.<\/span><\/p>\n

The Canadian captured her maiden WTA 1000 title in Montreal last season, while the Filipina has arguably been the more consistent performer this year, compiling six victories over Top 10 opponents.<\/span><\/p>\n

Just three weeks ago, Eala became the first player from the Philippines to reach the second week of a Grand Slam after advancing to the last 16 at Wimbledon.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mboko recently partnered Serena Williams in the women\u2019s doubles event at Queen\u2019s Club, marking the American legend\u2019s return to professional tennis. However, the Canadian suffered a medial collateral ligament injury in her left knee during the singles competition.<\/span><\/p>\n

The injury forced Mboko to retire from the tournament before withdrawing from Wimbledon, the Canadian Open and the Cincinnati Open. She has also opted to miss the season\u2019s final Grand Slam, the US Open.<\/span><\/p>\n

Most significantly, Mboko is set to lose the 1,000 ranking points she earned by winning the Canadian Open in 2025, where she defeated four Grand Slam champions during an extraordinary title run.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rennae Stubbs, who coached Williams during her final US Open in 2022 and has also worked alongside her during her recent comeback, weighed in on the long-term prospects of both rising stars.<\/span><\/p>\n

Latest Tennis News<\/span><\/h2>\n

Jessica Pegula says \u2018no other sport\u2019 would accept this tennis issue<\/a><\/p>\n

Alex Eala reacts to Top 25 breakthrough ahead of Naomi Osaka clash<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cEala\u2019s serve will never win her a Grand Slam,\u201d Stubbs said on <\/span>The Rennae Stubbs Tennis Podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know people could say the same about Angie Kerber, but I feel that\u2019s what\u2019s holding Eala back.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s also what\u2019s holding Jessica Pegula back. Pegula\u2019s second serve is very vulnerable against players who hit the ball hard. I still hope she can win a Grand Slam, but right now I simply don\u2019t see it happening.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cOnce Victoria Mboko recovers from her injury, I believe she has the skill, the audacity and the confidence needed to win one. She doesn\u2019t get nervous \u2013 she just goes for it. There are still many parts of her game she can improve, especially her serve, and technically her forehand can get even better.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cBut it\u2019s her confidence that makes me believe in her.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cHopefully, once she recovers from this knee injury, she can win a Grand Slam over the next few years.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Eala and Mboko have faced each other twice, including once on the ITF junior circuit.<\/span><\/p>\n

Their first meeting came at the 2022 US Open girls\u2019 tournament, where Eala claimed a 6-1, 7-6(5) victory to reach the quarter-finals.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mboko gained revenge last season at the Hong Kong Open, recovering from a set down to defeat the Filipina 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 in the pair\u2019s first meeting on the WTA Tour.<\/span><\/p>\n

The post Serena Williams\u2019 coach explains why Victoria Mboko can win a Grand Slam but Alex Eala cannot<\/a> appeared first on Tennis365<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Serena Williams\u2019 former coach believes Victoria Mboko has the \u2018skill\u2019 to win a Grand Slam title one day, but argues that rival Alex Eala\u2019s game will \u2018never\u2019 allow her to achieve the same feat without major improvements. Over the past 12 months, Mboko and Eala have emerged as two of the brightest young stars on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2579","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-articles"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2579"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2579\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2579"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2579"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tennisring.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2579"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}