Alex Eala, alongside rising American professional tennis player Iva Jović, started the new tour season with a win at the 2026 Auckland Savings Bank (ASB) Classic women’s doubles tournament against five-time Wimbledon champion Venus Williams and former world no. 3 Elina Svitolina (7-6, 6-1).
In a nail-biting first set, Eala proved her chemistry with Jović, saving seven set points as they exchanged deep crosscourt shots after another against Williams and Svitolina.
The 18-year-old world no.35 Jović, sung praises for Eala, sharing in an Instagram story that she was swooning, “when Eala was doing all the work,” to which Eala cheekily replied, “says the one who saved all the set points.”
The duo dominated Williams and Svitolina in almost all stats, recording 72 total points against the latter’s 62. Post-match, Eala and Jović said beating the legendary Venus Williams — who won a total of 14 Grand Slam doubles titles alongside her sister Serena Williams — was an unbelievable feat.
This is the first time Eala played doubles with the American. The world no. 53 has a 44-40 win-lose record at doubles. Their first win together secures them a slot in the quarterfinals, and on January 8, Eala and Jović will go against Jesika Malečková and Renata Zarazúa, who ousted the no. 1 seeds Erin Routliffe and Asia Muhammad.
Let’s look back at some of the best doubles partners Eala has had in her career, and how well their pairings fared in the tournaments.
0 Win
10x Fun
Just last December, Eala played mixed doubles in an exhibition game at the Macau Tennis Masters with China’s Juncheng “Jerry” Shang. They lost to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina and Wu Yibing (7-5, 7-6). The members of Team Li Na had a light-hearted match that wooed the audience, as Davidovich Fokina and Shang even changed courts and at one point just sat down as Yibing and Eala exchanged vicious backhands.
1 Win
While Eala didn’t make it past the first round of women’s singles in her Grand Slam debut at the French Open last year, she made headway in the women’s doubles category playing alongside the Mexican Renata Zarazúa. Together, they made it past the first round, only to fall in straight sets to Olga Danilović and Anastasia Potapova in the second round.
2 Wins
Ukrainian tennis player Nadiia Kichenok helped Eala reach the semis at the 2025 Guangzhou Open after beating the no. 4 seeds in the round of 16 and surviving a close second set in the quarterfinals. Eala and Kichenok lost to Katarzyna Piter and Janice Tjen, the latter of whom was the Indonesian tennis player who was expected to meet Eala in the finals of the 33rd SEA Games, but ultimately fell to Thailand’s Mananchaya Sawango.
2 Wins
Fresh off her back-to-back-to-back takedowns of three major champions at the Miami Open, Eala DM-ed 2023 U.S. Open champion Coco Gauff on Instagram if she wants to be doubles partners at the 2025 Italian Open. “And I was like, ‘Sure. Why not?’” Gauff said. They went as far as the quarterfinals after beating two pairs in the rounds of 32 and 16 in both decisive two-setters. Gauff-Eala fell to no. 3 seeds and homecourt bets Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in a thrilling match that ended in a 7-10 tiebreak.
2 Bronze Medal Wins
Late in Eala’s breakout season, she represented the Philippines at the 33rd Southeast Asian Games, where she played mixed doubles alongside Niño Alcantara. The pair reached the semifinals and brought home the bronze medal. This is not their first time swinging along. Two years ago, they also won the bronze medal in the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou, China.
