lol, I literally said that both Joint and Eala had a lot of room to grow in their games, did I not? And I have been saying that Eala's serve needs work since 2023. This is nothing new to me. I just don't feel the need to keep repeating it 2+ years later.
We all know the serve cost Eala the match. Quite frankly, I never really expected Eala to go this far in a grass tournament with that bad of a serve. If Joint lost the match, it would have been the serve that cost her the match as well. Neither player served well in the 3rd set and the tiebreaker. Eala jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the 3rd set, then Joint went up 4-2. Both players just couldn't close out. Joint just found a way to back into the win, Eala didn't.
If Eala becomes what Leylah Fernandez was, a fringe Top 10 player and a slam finalist at her peak, it's a win for Filipino tennis. Remember, we (my native country) never had a player this good before. Eala is already doing wonders for the growth of tennis in the Philippines.