Alexandra Eala's mixed doubles debut came in a different way than she expected, but the 20-year-old still enjoyed the experience of playing against two men.
Just before kicking off her 2026 season, the rising Filipina star made a stop in Macau to take part in a two-day exhibition event.
On Saturday, Eala and Juncheng Shang were scheduled to take on Mirra Andreeva and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a mixed doubles match. But the Russian tennis star felt unwell and couldn't take to the court.
Eala and Andreeva were the only WTA players competing at the MGM Macau Tennis Masters, but the organizers were keen to still hold a mixed doubles match. So they figured out to replace the Russian with Wu Yibing and have the Chinese as Davidovich Fokina's partner.
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That's how Eala ended up playing a doubles match involving three men. The WTA Eastbourne runner-up and Shang actually looked decent and had their chances before Davidovich Fokina and Wu completed a tight 7-5 7-6 (1) win.
Here is a small part of how it all looked.
Eala: It was such a fun experience
"My very first mixed doubles. It was such a pleasure to share the court with Jerry. We grew up playing juniors together and seeing each other in tournaments, so yeah, it was such a fun experience. Im open, I love to play mixed doubles. Well see. Im a singles player, but Ive played mixed doubles in team competitions before, so its not something I shy away from," the 20-year-old said after the match.
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The following day, Andreeva felt better so her scheduled match against Eala proceeded as scheduled. The Russian two-time WTA 1000 champion beat the Filiina 6-4 6-2 in what was their first-ever meeting.
