By Tracy Cabrera
MANILA, Philippines — Following an unsuccessful attempt to advance in the Italian Open doubles competition with American partner Hailey Baptiste, Filipina tennis ace Alexandra ‘Alex’ Eala is set to pair with fellow rising star Victoria Mboko of Canada against the world’s best in the 2026 French Open doubles competition scheduled next week.
This will be the first time that the 20-year-old Filipina and the 19-year-old Canadian will team up after meeting twice in singles matches in their budding careers.
Eala is currently rated in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA)’s world rankings at Number 42. She trounced Mboko in the semifinals of the 2022 US Open girls’ singles, 6-1, 7-6, en route to becoming the first Filipino Grand Slam junior champion.
Despite that defeat, the Canadian has since ascended to world’s No. 9, returning the favor in the pros, scoring a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 comeback win in the Hong Kong Open Round of 16 last year.
But this time, Eala and Mboko will be on the same side of the clay court with hopes of a deep campaign even against the doubles titans led by No. 1 seed pair of Czechia’s Katerina Siniakova (world doubles No. 1) and American Taylor Townsend (world doubles No. 2).
Siniakova and Townsend eliminated Eala with Turkey’s Zeynep Sonmez in the Madrid Open and once again in the Italian Open, where the country’s pride paired with Baptiste.
Currently, Eala is No. 88 in doubles while Mboko is No. 133, making it a tall order against more experienced tandems in the upcoming French Open set on May 24 to June 7 at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris.
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