Kim Clijsters names two WTA stars she believes are ready for a first Grand Slam title

In the last two Grand Slam tournaments, Mirra Andreeva and Linda Noskova have come out on top in Roland Garros and Wimbledon respectively. The similarity for both was that it was their first ever Grand Slam triumph. Tennis fans eagerly await the next two names who will also make this breakthrough on the big stage, with four-time major winner Kim Clijsters eyeing Alexandra Eala and Jessica Pegula as the next two to taste Grand Slam success for the first time.

These two have been on court competing against each other as of late, clashing in the DC Open final. It was a triumphant outing for the 21-year-old trailblazer from the Philippines after completing a stunning comeback in against the number one seed to seal a maiden WTA title.

Her form has been scrutinised with a positive effect in recent time as she continues to improve her game, learning and gaining experience all the time. She will be an outside shout going into the upcoming US Open, and she has the figures behind it to boost a possible title run.

Since the grass swing commenced, Eala has picked up five top 10 wins, with the latest coming against Pegula in Washington. While her serve has been singled out as a possible weakness, most notably by Rennae Stubbs, she has dismissed these issues on court with a very strong game including powerful ground strokes while being tricky to play against due to being left handed.

Pegula is someone who is also not recognised as one of the big servers, but in a similar sense to Eala can muster up some really powerful shots and is overall a very well-rounded player, making her a nightmare to come up against. She is having a brilliant season having reached four finals, winning two of them.

Clijsters outlined both Eala and Pegula's potential of winning a Grand Slam. The World No.3 has a much more decorated CV when it comes to this topic having reached the 2024 US Open final along with three semi-finals, but she has had a much longer career than Eala.

Speaking on Love All podcast, she said: “I do think they have a chance. Winning a Grand Slam is hard no matter what, whether you have a great first or second serve. But Eala and Jessie [Pegula] have such strong weapons when it comes to the return game and because of it they can break an opponent’s serve down.

“Just by being so good and aggressive on the return. And we saw with [Aryna] Sabalenka and [Ekaterina] Alexandrova… those players have bad service games and days too. If you have Sabalenka winning 33% of first service points, of course Eala and Pegula can win a slam if that happens in the final.”

The mentality of the two is a huge factor as well. “I definitely think someone like an Eala…because of the mindset… Jessie too. She is so strong mentally, the way they are able to move side to side, the groundstrokes that they have. I definitely think they can win [a slam]."

Thinking closer to the present day, the Belgian shut down Eala's chances and sided more with Pegula. “Maybe Eala not as much yet as a Pegula but I think Jessie believes she can win a Grand Slam," she commented. "I think that is where it starts most of all, you have to believe you can beat every player out there. Whether you haven’t done it in a Grand Slam yet or you’ve done it in the smaller tournaments. To beat the top players, the [Elena] Rybakina’s and the Sabalenka’s, that’s super important because every match you play is different.”