Last weekend, Macau hosted a practice tournament for mixed teams.
Li, a former two-time Grand Slam champion and former world number 2, was selected as captain of the team consisting of Eala, Juncheng Shang and Ugo Humbert.
In her practice debut in Macau, Eala played in two matches. In a mixed doubles match, the 20-year-old partnered Shang and they were defeated 5-7 6-7 (1) by Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Wu Yibing. In case you missed it, Davidovich Fokina was supposed to play alongside Mirra Andreeva – but after the Russian fell ill and couldn’t play – the organizers improvised and the Filipina ended up playing a three-man match.
The next day, Andreeva felt better and managed to play against Eala in a singles match. And although the 53rd-ranked Filipina suffered a 4-6 2-6 defeat to Andreeva, captain Li was delighted with what she saw from the runner-up Eastbourne.
When Li won the Australian Open title in 2011, she became the first-ever Asian Grand Slam singles winner.
Li: Eala can do much better at the Australian Open in 2026
“I remember the first time I played the third round against Maria [Sharapova] at Laver Arena. I was so nervous I didn’t know if I could walk across the field. I really like her personality and she played well and [she is] Even so young, but she has a lot of experience. So I believe she can do much, much better [at the Australian Open],” Li said of the 20-year-old Filipina after the MGM Macau Tennis Masters concluded.
When the 2026 Australian Open kicks off, Eala will make her main draw debut at the tournament. For the past three years, the twenty-year-old Filipina tried to reach the main draw of the Australian Open through the qualifying tournament, but always lost in the first qualifying round.
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