TENNIS: Alex Eala set to face World No. 9 Mirra Andreeva after 'bizarre' mixed doubles match

Philippines' Alex Eala, World Number 53, is set to face Russia's Mirra Andreeva, World Number 9, on Sunday for the Macau Tennis Masters 2025.

Eala, 20, and Andreeva were earlier set to face in the mixed doubles competition in Macau on Saturday but Andreeva was feeling unwell and was replaced by her teammate Yibing Wu, 26, of China, according to a report on tennisuptodate.

Eala and her mixed doubles partner Jerry Shang, 20, of China, thus ended with a "bizarre" matchup as they faced two male opponents — Wu and Davidovich Fokina, 26, of Spain.

It was a close fight but Team Li Na's Eala and Shang eventually lost to Team Conchita Martinez's Wu and Davidovich, 7-5, 7-6 (1).

Meanwhile, Eala and Andreeva have previously faced each other in the 2022 US Open junior girls tournament.

Eala dominated Andreeva 6-4, 6-0 in the quarterfinals. Eala eventually won the girls' singles championship of the tournament.

According to her bio on the Women's Tennis Association website, Eala has 40 wins/26 losses record and has earned a prize money of $947,777 this year. Earlier this month, she represented the Philippines in the Southeast Asian Games and won the gold medal for the women's singles category.

On the other hand, Mirra Andreeva has a 40 wins/16 losses record and has earned a prize money of $4,726,226. She won two WTA 1000 championships this year, the Dubai Open and the Indian Wells Open. She also reached the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon tournament.

-Veronica Pulumbarit/Paraluman News