Alexandra Eala talks about how she felt about playing a doubles match against two ATP players

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 her 2026 season began, the rising Filipino star made a stopover in Macau to participate in a two-day practice event.

On Saturday, Eala and Juncheng Shang were scheduled to face Mirra Andreeva and Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a mixed doubles match. But the Russian tennis star felt unwell and could not go to court.

Eala and Andreeva were the only WTA players to participate in the MGM Macau Tennis Masters, but organizers were keen to hold a mixed doubles event. So they figured out to replace the Russian with Wu Yibing and have the Chinese as Davidovich Fokina’s partner.

So Eala ended up playing a doubles match with three men. WTA runners-up Eastbourne and Shang actually looked decent and had their chances before Davidovich Fokina and Wu secured a narrow 7-5 7-6 (1) win.

Here’s a little of what it all looked like.

Alexandra Eala rewards Juncheng Shang’s impressive defense 🛡✨👏🏻#MGMMacauTennisMasters #MGMMacauTennisMasters2025 #MGMMACAUTENnisMasterspic.twitter.com/Md7jSdiOgV

— Hanyu player𓆩⛸️𓆪 ⸆⸉ (@mushroomzuru) December 27, 2025

Eala: It was such a fun experience

“My first ever mixed doubles. It was so much fun sharing the court with Jerry. We grew up playing juniors together and seeing each other in tournaments, so yeah, it was such a fun experience. I’m keeping an open mind, I love playing mixed doubles. We’ll see. I’m a singles player, but I’ve played mixed doubles in team competitions before, so it’s not something I’m shying away from,” the 20-year-old said after the match.

The next day, Andreeva felt better, so her scheduled match against Eala went as planned. The Russian two-time WTA 1000 champion defeated the Filiina 6-4 6-2 in what was their first ever meeting.