Tennis star Alex Eala will cap her stellar 2025 season by battling world No. 9 Mirra Andreeva in the MGM Macau Tennis Masters on December 28.
Fresh from her gold medal win in women's singles at the 2025 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, Alex Eala will play her final match of 2025 against 18-year-old Russian Mirra Andreeva at the Macao Forum.
This marks the fourth-highest ranked opponent Eala has faced this year, following her victories over world No. 2 Iga Swiatek and No. 7 Madison Keys, and a loss to No. 6 Jessica Pegula during her run at the Miami Open in March.
The matchup is part of the team event in the Macau Masters, where Eala's squad, captained by former Grand Slam champion Li Na (2011 French Open and 2014 Australian Open winner), including Ugo Humbert and Jerry Shang, takes on the team led by Conchita Martinez (1994 Wimbledon champion), featuring Andreeva, Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and Wu Yibing.
Additionally, Eala and Shang will compete in mixed doubles against Andreeva and Wu on December 27.
This is not their first encounter; in the 2022 US Open girls’ tournament quarterfinals, Eala defeated Andreeva en route to her historic junior Grand Slam title.
Since then, Eala has reached a career-high ranking of No. 50 and secured her first Grand Slam main draw win at the US Open. She also became the first Filipino in 26 years to win the Southeast Asian Games women's singles gold this December.
Meanwhile, Andreeva claimed titles at the Dubai Championships and Indian Wells Open, and advanced to the quarterfinals at Wimbledon.
A victory over Andreeva would provide an extra confidence boost for Eala as she prepares for her first main draw appearance at the Australian Open in January.
