Alexandra Eala's combined doubles debut got here otherwise than she anticipated, however the 20-year-old nonetheless loved the expertise of taking part in towards two males.
Simply earlier than kicking off her 2026 season, the rising Filipina star made a cease in Macau to participate in a two-day exhibition occasion.
On Saturday, Eala and Juncheng Shang have been scheduled to tackle Mirra Andreeva and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a combined doubles match. However the Russian tennis star felt unwell and couldn't take to the courtroom.
Eala and Andreeva have been the one WTA gamers competing on the MGM Macau Tennis Masters, however the organizers have been eager to nonetheless maintain a combined doubles match. So that they found out to switch the Russian with Wu Yibing and have the Chinese language as Davidovich Fokina's associate.
That's how Eala ended up taking part in a doubles match involving three males. The WTA Eastbourne runner-up and Shang truly regarded first rate and had their probabilities earlier than Davidovich Fokina and Wu accomplished a good 7-5 7-6 (1) win.
Here’s a small a part of the way it all regarded.
Alexandra Eala rewards Juncheng Shang's spectacular protection 🛡✨👏🏻#MGMMacauTennisMasters #MGMMacauTennisMasters2025 #美高梅澳門網球名人賽pic.twitter.com/Md7jSdiOgV
— Hanyu 選手 𓆩⛸️𓆪 ⸆⸉ (@mushroomzuru) December 27, 2025
Eala: It was such a enjoyable expertise
"My very first combined doubles. It was such a pleasure to share the courtroom with Jerry. We grew up taking part in juniors collectively and seeing one another in tournaments, so yeah, it was such a enjoyable expertise. I’m open, I like to play combined doubles. We’ll see. I’m a singles participant, however I’ve performed combined doubles in workforce competitions earlier than, so it’s not one thing I draw back from," the 20-year-old stated after the match.
The next day, Andreeva felt higher so her scheduled match towards Eala proceeded as scheduled. The Russian two-time WTA 1000 champion beat the Filiina 6-4 6-2 in what was their first-ever assembly.
