00:00Hello mga kapuso! Welcome to the very first episode of The Week Explained.
00:05Dito babalikan natin ang mga balitang nangyari this week at
00:08hihimahin natin ang mga kwentong kailangan pa na kaunting paliwanag.
00:12Kasi diba, hindi lang naman anong nangyari yung gusto nating malaman.
00:16Gusto rin nating malaman paano at bakit mahalaga ang mga balita at kwentong ito.
00:21And for our very first episode, all lies muna tayo on Alex Iyala.
00:27Bawat Pilipino saan mang paning ng mundo ay patuloy na nakasubaybay sa pag-arangkada ni Alex Iyala sa World Tennis
00:33Stage.
00:34At ngayon ay panibagong laban ang kanyang nga harapin sa Final Grand Slam of the Year,
00:39ang 2026 US Open.
00:42Pero bago tayo maki-cheer ay alamin muna natin kung paano ba umabot sa puntong ito.
00:48Ano nga ba yung diskarte sa likod ng kanyang unusual na slow serve?
00:52Sino-sino ba yung malalaking pangalan na kanyang tinalo?
00:55At ngayong world number 18 na siya, ano nga ba yung ibig sabihin ito?
00:59At para doon sa mga ngayon palang na-hook sa tennis dahil kay Alex,
01:04bibigyan namin kayo ng quick guide sa mga tennis terms at spectator etiquette.
01:09Ako si Darling Kai at ito ang The Week Explained dahil mabuti ng malinaw.
01:17Kapag sinabing deadly serve sa women's tennis,
01:19kadalasan siguro may isip natin mabilis at malakas.
01:23Pero paano kung hindi, alam nyo ba na isa sa mga napapansin sa mga laro ni Alex,
01:28yung kanyang relatively slower serve.
01:31Pero hindi man ito kasing bilis, kasing lakas na ginagawa ng elite players,
01:36ay nagagawa pa rin itong pahirapan yung ilan sa pinaka-mahuhusay na manlalaro sa mundo.
01:41So ano nga ba yung diskarte sa likod nito?
01:44Tara, alamin natin.
01:45When you talk about deadly serves in women's tennis,
01:49it's usually the fastest elite servers.
01:51Arina Sabalenka with a speed of 214 kilometers per hour.
01:57Venus Williams with 207.6 kilometers per hour.
02:01Serena Williams also with 207.6 kilometers per hour.
02:06Alicia Parks with 207 kilometers per hour.
02:09Coco Guff with 206 kilometers per hour.
02:12And Naomi Osaka with a speed of 205 kilometers per hour.
02:17But here comes Filipino pride Alex Ayala with a relatively slower serve,
02:23giving some of the world's top players a little bit of trouble.
02:27Alex Ayala's serve may not be the fastest or the most powerful,
02:30but it has been making headlines not just on the court, but online as well,
02:35with tennis analysts and fans breaking down the tactics behind her slow serve.
02:39Why is Alex Ayala's slow serve so tricky to return?
02:47In tennis, serve is the most important shot,
02:50according to tennis coach and professional PV Cruz.
02:53It is the only shot that a player can control, and it starts the point.
02:59When a player serves, it dictates what will happen to that point.
03:03Speed matters, according to coach PV.
03:06The average first serve speed of today's WTA players generally range from 160 to 170 kilometers per hour,
03:14with the fastest serve ever recorded by a female player at 220 kilometers per hour
03:20by Georgina Garcia-Perez, the 2018 Hungarian Ladies Open.
03:24With speed or pace, this is how fast the ball is going through the court, no?
03:33So it's very important tactically-wise that we use speed to, let's say, take off time from our opponent.
03:41They might hit late or they might not even hit the ball if it's too fast.
03:46Meanwhile, the average speed of Ayala's serve is at 140 kilometers per hour, relatively slower compared to other players.
03:55In fact, on the WTA's list of fastest serves based on average speed,
04:01Ayala ranks 188th out of 198 players, according to TennisStats.com,
04:07a statistical database built by a group of sports data enthusiasts based on WTA data.
04:14And while her slow serves have drawn criticism from some analysts and fans alike,
04:19the unusual pace caught some of her top opponents by surprise.
04:26During the 2026 Wimbledon Open, World No. 5 Iga Sviantec said she was caught unprepared for Ayala's serves.
04:38World No. 3 Jessica Pegula also prepared for Ayala's slow serves before their championship match in the Mubadala DC Open.
04:47A video of Pegula asking for slow serves during training even went viral online.
04:53Coach Peavy observed how Ayala uses her slow serves to her advantage.
04:59Her serve is not as fast.
05:01It's not that fast, but she utilizes her serve well enough to, I would say, disrupt the rhythm, disrupt the
05:09timing of her opponent.
05:11She would serve slow, a little bit slower on the first serves, and then on crucial points, she would serve
05:19fast.
05:19So things like that.
05:20So it becomes not just a tactic during a point, but a holistic tactic during the match.
05:27So she's done that very, very well, actually this year.
05:32WTA statistics show that Ayala wins 62.9% of her first serves and 47.6% of her second
05:40serves.
05:42According to Coach Peavy, Ayala's slow serve combined with variations in spin disrupts the opponent's rhythm, especially during first serves.
05:52Typically, first serve usually is a faster serve.
05:55There's less risk for you because you have a second serve.
05:58If you're talking about first serve and she is using off-pace, meaning she's intentionally slowing down her serve at
06:07critical moments.
06:09Her tactic there is, okay, I'm gonna disrupt the rhythm, I'm gonna give you a slower serve, more spin, right?
06:19And I'm gonna dare you to attack that serve.
06:22A variation on a player's speed, spin, and placement could effectively make it harder for the opponent to anticipate the
06:30serve.
06:31For Ayala, Coach Peavy believes it all boils down to her team's tactics.
06:36It's very intentional that she serves slower sometimes and then faster sometimes, right?
06:44They don't get the same ball every time.
06:46So when they're returning, they don't know where the ball is going.
06:49So even if they know the ball is going to the left side, they don't know if the ball is
06:54low, if they need to go and run and stretch for that ball,
07:00or they don't know if the ball is going through them with not much spin, but a little bit more
07:07flat.
07:08And to top things off, being a lefty or left-handed is always tricky, according to Coach Peavy, because most
07:15players are not used to lefty serves.
07:17Being a lefty, you can serve easily to the backhand side of your opponent.
07:25Plus, the spin that you put is the opposite of what they are used to.
07:30So the timing is harder.
07:33But a slow lefty serve, even with a combination of spins, will not always guarantee success,
07:39especially for a rising star like Ayala, according to Coach Peavy.
07:43Everyone is learning how she plays.
07:46So it's not going to be easy going forward.
07:51In a match, even though you try to disrupt the rhythm, the player will be able to get used to
07:57it.
07:57So the timing of when you will speed up the serve, when you will slow down the serve, is critical.
08:06Coach Peavy believes that Ayala's serve still has room for improvement in terms of speed.
08:12For a physically demanding sport like tennis, the quicker you win points, the better.
08:18If you have a slower serve, the percentage of your opponent returning it and returning it well is higher still.
08:28You need to do this every match.
08:31You need to do this every tournament and the whole year.
08:35So it's very critical for tennis players to have a good serve, okay, so that they get easy points.
08:44At the end of the day, according to Coach Peavy, a successful serve isn't built on speed alone,
08:49but with a good combination of spin, direction, and depth.
08:54If she can improve her serve, the pace of her serve, and the quality of her serve,
09:01being a top 10 or even, I believe, even being a Grand Slam winner, right, is not outside of the
09:10imagination.
09:13Alex Ayala said she is working on a variety of shots and weapons and not relying on her serve alone.
09:19But if it's slow, it's not slow, it's not slow, it's not slow, it's not slow, it's not slow, it's
09:24not slow.
09:24Imagine nyo, ha, in just one year, she went from world number 140 to world number 18.
09:31Real quick yan, ha, at kasabay ng pag-arangkada ng kanyang world rankings,
09:35ay tinalo niya rin yung ilan sa pinakamalalaking pangalan sa women's tennis.
09:41Kung sino-sino sila, kilalani natin.
09:43When Alex Ayala received a wild card into the 2025 Miami Open, she was ranked number 140 in the world.
09:52Just over a year later, Ayala has climbed all the way to a career-high number 18,
09:58two spots higher than her previous best ranking of number 20.
10:02And along the way, she's beaten some of the biggest names in women's tennis.
10:08So, who has Alex Ayala defeated?
10:11Let's start with her breakthrough run at the 2025 Miami Open.
10:17At the 2025 Miami Open, Ayala announced herself on the world stage with the win over Madison Keyes.
10:25Keyes was the tournament's fifth seed, the reigning Australian Open champion,
10:29and ranked number 5 in the world at the time.
10:33Ayala defeated Keyes 6-4-6-2 and became the first Filipina to beat a top 10 opponent since the
10:41WTA rankings began in 1975.
10:44In the quarterfinals, Ayala faced another massive challenge, then world number 2 Iga Sviantek, a six-time Grand Slam champion.
10:53Ayala stunned the Polish Star 6-2-7-5, pulling one of the biggest upsets of the tournament.
11:00At 2026 Wimbledon, Ayala once again defeated Sviantek in the third round with a score of 7-6-6-2.
11:09Ayala continued her run against the world's best.
11:12At the Dubai Tennis Championships, she first defeated then world number 8 Jasmine Paolini of Italy, 6-1-7-6.
11:20That sent Ayala through to the round of 16.
11:23There, she faced Romanian veteran Sorana Cristea, who was ranked number 17 at the time.
11:30Ayala came through again, winning 7-5-6-4 to reach the quarterfinals of the WTA 1000 tournament.
11:38Then came Indian Wells.
11:40Ayala finally got a win over world number 4 Coco Goff.
11:45Ayala was leading 6-2-2-0 in their round of 32 match when Goff retired with an apparent injury.
11:52In the Berlin Tennis Open, Ayala pulled off not one, but two major upsets.
11:58First, she faced then world number 2 Elena Robachina in the round of 16.
12:04Ayala trailed 4-1 in the opening set, but fought her way back, winning three straight games to level the
12:12score.
12:12She eventually closed out the match 7-5-6-4.
12:16Then in the quarterfinals, Ayala faced another top seed, Elina Svitolina, who is world number 9.
12:23Ayala raced to a 3-0 lead and took the opening set.
12:27She then closed out the match 6-3-6-4 to reach the semifinals.
12:32Meanwhile, in the quarterfinals of the 2026 DC Open, she met Svitolina again.
12:38Svitolina fought back in both sets, but Ayala kept her composure and won 6-3-6-4.
12:45In the semifinals, Ayala faced four-time Grand Slam champion and world number 13 Naomi Osaka.
12:52She defeated Osaka 6-4-6-2 to reach her first WTA 500 final.
12:58After a 20-hour suspension caused by bad weather, Ayala returned to the DC Open final against top seed in
13:05world number 3 Jessica Pigula.
13:07Pigula took the first set 6-4, but Ayala fought back, winning the second set 6-4 before dominating the
13:16deciding set 6-0.
13:18That comeback gave Ayala her first WTA 500 title, the biggest title of her young career.
13:25And now, Ayala will proceed to the US Open, the final Grand Slam of the year.
13:33So, ayun, world number 18 na nga si Alex.
13:36Big deal, obviously, diba?
13:37Pero alam nyo ba na bukod sa bragging rights, ay meron din palang kaakibat na responsibilidad ang pagiging isa sa
13:44top-ranked WTA players.
13:46Meron kang mga tournament na kailangan salihan.
13:49Meron kang commitment sa kailangan ito pa rin.
13:52At meron ding point sa kailangang depensahan para mapanatili o kaya mapataas mo pa ang iyong ranking.
13:57So, ano-ano nga ba ang kaakibat ng pagiging world number 18?
14:02Tara, alamin natin yan.
14:27Nao-ano-ano nga ba ang kaakibat naigmatatili o kaya mapataas mo pa ng dorang wie kay kaakabat naik.
14:32So, ano-ano-ano naikatikatani o kaya mapataa mo pa ang kan iよし pisse cautei.
14:42finda mo pa ang kaakibat na马ate NSUbhoek isa sa part
14:54kor Freya working at מה personal and purpose jukri h cinematic sefor.
