Eala-Jovic duo stuns powerhouse pair of Elina-Venus in ASB Classic

ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA added another former champion and top-ranked player to her kill list for an explosive start to her 2026 season.

Young guns Ms. Eala and American partner Iva Jovic pulled the rug from under the powerhouse and grizzled tandem of Ukraine’s Elina Svitolina and the returning Venus Williams of the United States, 7-6 (9-7), 6-1, on Monday in Round 1 of the 2026 ASB Classic at the ASB Tennis Centre in Auckland, New Zealand (NZ).

The 20-year-old Ms. Eala and 18-year-old Ms. Jovic erased a 3-5 deficit with a total of eight set points saved in the extended opener before shattering the gates wide open in the second for a stunning upset of the 31-year-old Ms. Svitolina and the 45-year-old Ms. Williams.

It’s definitely youth power over experience as the Filipina-American tandem leaned on fresher legs to dispatch the veteran duo with multiple titles under their belt in only one hour and 29 minutes for a quarterfinal berth.

“Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to everybody. Thank you so much for supporting me and Iva. I had such a good time on court. I think we had a lot of fun,” said Ms. Eala before a predominantly Filipino crowd in NZ.

“You know, to start the year with a moment like this and sharing the court with two pioneers of the sport and pioneers off the court as well, people I looked up to since I was young. I’m so happy to be sharing this moment with Iva and with all of you guys.”

WTA No. 53 Ms. Eala and No. 35 Ms. Jovic, who will also see action in the singles starting on Tuesday, shoot for a final four ticket against either the top-seeded pair of Erin Routliffe of New Zealand and Asia Muhammad of the United States or Czechia’s Jesika Maleckova or Mexico’s Renata Zarazua.

Ms. Svitolina, a former world No. 3, WTA Tour Finals champion and holder of 18 pro titles, is currently world No. 13, while Ms. Williams, WTA No. 582 off a 16-month break boasts seven singles and 14 doubles Grand Slam crowns on top of four Olympic gold medals and a former No. 1 stature.

And that was in full display right off the bat as the hard-hitting veterans blitzed to a 5-3 upper hand behind crisp groundstrokes and return game that the young duo could not handle.

The tide, however, turned from there as the Pinay-American tandem embraced the challenge with resiliency and fortitude amidst deficits and set points one after another.

A break point shifted the momentum on to Mses. Eala and Jovic in the ninth game until they struck to within 5-6 where they scaled the mountain anew from a 15-40 deficit to force a tiebreaker.

Trailing 6-7 anew in the extra session, the never-say-die Mses. Eala and Jovic staged a 3-0 closeout for a 9-7 victory.

And it was all Mses. Eala and Jovic from there on, pouncing on the golden opportunity with a torrid 4-0 start on their way to a near shutout capped by Ms. Eala’s backhand that sliced perfectly through in between the stunned Mses. Svitolina and Williams for the victory.

Ms. Eala and Ms. Svitolina will take a break before their quarterfinal stint to focus on the singles’ campaign.

The fourth-seeded Ms. Eala, on the bottom half of the stacked bracket, will take on Croatia’s Donna Vekic in Round 1 slated at 2:10 p.m. on Tuesday. Ms. Jovic, as the No. 3 seed on the upper half with top-seeded Ms. Svitolina, already advanced with a 4-6, 6-1, 6-0 comeback against No. 182 Gabriela Knutson of Czechia.

The ASB Classic along with Kooyong Classic on Jan. 13 to 15 in Melbourne serve as Ms. Eala’s warm-up tournaments for her main draw debut in the Australian Open starting on Jan. 18.

After that is her homecoming as a wildcard at the Philippine Women’s Open in Manila on Jan. 26 to 31 albeit her availability will depend on her Australian Open campaign. — John Bryan Ulanday