How Alex Eala Can Have a Long, Successful WTA Career: Injury Expert Shares Easy Plan
An injury expert has highlighted an important change the WTA should consider after Alex Eala got hurt during her Hong Kong Open final loss to Claire Liu. While down 4-3 in the first set, Eala asked for a medical timeout to check and wrap her right knee and thigh. Though she was clearly in pain, the 21-year-old pushed through but then lost nine games in a row to drop the match.
After the match, Eala said the injury wasn’t serious, but it likely came from pushing herself too hard physically and mentally. Now, she’s set to take a well-earned break from tennis.
Eala gave a touching speech after the match, thanking the tournament organizers and everyone who supported her amazing journey in 2026. She’ll look back on a fantastic year after reaching No.15 in the rankings and winning her first big singles title at the Washington Open in August.
However, the fatigue she felt in the final had been building up. This year, Eala played more matches than anyone else on the WTA—70 matches across 26 tournaments! Currently, players have to compete in at least 20 tournaments a year. Iga Swiatek called this rule “crazy” and “too intense,” and former No.1 Aryna Sabalenka also criticized the schedule as “insane,” saying she plans to skip some events.
Many players, including 2021 US Open champ Emma Raducanu, have struggled with such tough schedules. To avoid Eala facing the same struggles as Raducanu, Dr. Alireza K. Nazemi, an orthopedic surgeon and sports medicine expert, suggested that players like Eala should have “planned recovery breaks” built into their schedule to help them last longer in the sport.
“She’s only 21 and has already played more matches than anyone this season, which shows how tough she is. But being young doesn’t protect her from overuse injuries,” Nazemi told SPORTbible. “She will heal faster, which is good, but I’d advise her team to fit recovery time into the year and watch her health closely. That way, players like Alex can have a long career, maybe even playing tennis for life.”
When asked about how playing 20 tournaments affects players’ bodies, Nazemi explained, “Tennis is very repetitive. Serving puts strain on the shoulder, elbow, and lower back, and the quick stops, starts, and direction changes stress the legs and knees. Every match causes tiny damage to tissues, which is normal if there’s enough recovery time. But without rest, players get overuse injuries like stress fractures and muscle strains.”
Top ATP players have also spoken out about the tough schedule. In September 2024, Carlos Alcaraz said, “they are going to kill us in some way” when talking about the busy calendar. Alcaraz missed six months after a wrist injury in April, and another star, Jannik Sinner, hasn’t played since July due to a knee injury but hopes to return at the 2027 Australian Open.
With so many injuries linked to the pressure on players, the ATP will make no events mandatory starting in 2028 to reduce the load. What about the WTA? For the 2027 season, players in the top 50 will only need to play in four WTA 500 events instead of six, and their total tournament commitment will drop to 14. Plus, players can swap one WTA 1000 result with a better performance from a WTA 500 or 250 event. It’s still unclear if the WTA will follow the ATP’s lead and remove all mandatory events.