Newly-minted SEA Games gold medalist Alex Eala is playing in an exhibition tournament in Macau as she enters her build-up to the 2026 season.
Alex Eala and China’s Juncheng Shang saved four match points before ultimately falling via tiebreak in a tightly-contested match against Alejandro Fokina and Yibing Wu, 7-5, 7-6(1), in mixed doubles during Day 1 of the Macau Tennis Masters at the Macao Forum on Saturday, December 27.
Eala and Shang had to play against the two men after Wu’s original partner, Mirra Andreeva, had to beg off from the day’s hostilities due to illness. The Russian is penciled to face off against Eala in an anticipated singles match on Sunday.
Despite playing as underdogs, Eala and Shang led the second set, 5-4, after holding their serve. However, they couldn’t repeat in Game 11 after Shang committed a costly error — earning Fokina and Wu break point and serve for the match, 6-5.
Things looked dire for the Filipino-Chinese pair as Fokina and Wu were ahead, 40-0, with four match points under their belt. But Eala and Shang were able to claw themselves back to relevance as they tied the match at 40-all before forcing an error from Wu to force the tiebreak, 6-6.
Fueled by their frustrations, Fokina and Wu unleashed heavy hits that Eala and Shang just could not return, closing out the match in two sets, 7-6(1).
The win netted Fokina and Wu’s Team Conchita two more points, after Fokina also beat Shang in the earlier men’s singles match in two sets.
Conchita Martinez’s team had four points to their name as of writing.
Eala’s squad, led by China’s Li Na, won the captain’s challenge earlier on Saturday when the Filipina starred in the King of the Court event. They won after two rounds, 4-2.
However, they still have ground to make up for the remainder of Day 1 with another singles match between Ugo Humbert and Wu coming up.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.