Victoria Mboko and Alexandra Eala are two of the most exciting young talents on the WTA Tour.
Both Mboko and Eala had breakout seasons in 2025, highlighted by winning the Canadian Open and reaching the Miami Open semi-finals, respectively.
The Canadian Open is one of two tournaments that were won in 2025 by Mboko, who won the Hong Kong Open after beating Eala en route to the title.
This was revenge from Eala beating Mboko en route to winning the junior US Open title in 2022, and now the latter has revealed what their relationship is like now.
Victoria Mboko praises ‘really nice’ Alexandra Eala
Mboko is playing doubles with Serena Williams at the Queen’s Club Championships this year, and many of the questions she was asked in her pre-tournament press conference were about this partnership.
However, she was also asked about her relationship with Eala, to which Mboko was full of praise for the Filipina.
Mboko also explained that her friendship with Eala has only improved since they both emerged on to the WTA Tour last year.
“Alex is a really nice girl,” said Mboko. “I’ve known her for a really, really long time, but I feel like we’ve started getting more closer once we’re both on the tour.
“I think it’s really important sometimes to find little joy, you know we are all on the road for so long and these are the years when we’re kind of finishing high school or going to university and usually at this stage you might have a big social friend group.
“But of course with what we’re doing we’re always travelling, we are very isolated a lot of the time, so if you are able to find someone like her, who is so charismatic, she is so kind, sometimes we’ll grab a little dinner or go to a café, we just do a lot of wholesome things and it’s very heart-warming to get out of the hotel room.”
Who has impressed you the most?
Who are Victoria Mboko and Alexandra Eala playing at Queen’s?
Mboko and Eala will be able to spend more time together in London, as they are both entered into the singles draw at Queen’s.
Eala has already won a grass court title this year after winning the WTA 125 event in Birmingham, and she will look to continue her run at Queen’s.
In the first round, Eala will play against qualifier Shuai Zhang, who she has never played before in her career.
What is the best win of Alexandra Eala’s career so far? 🤔
Iga Swiatek in Miami, Clara Tauson at the US Open, Jasmine Paolini in Dubai, or a different match?
As the world number nine, Mboko is the third seed at Queen’s this year and therefore receives a bye to the second round.
Mboko could face a tough opener in London, as she will play either McCartney Kessler or former world number one and 2021 Wimbledon finalist Karolina Pliskova.
As well as her singles tournament, Mboko is also playing alongside the aforementioned Serena Williams in the doubles draw, as they play third seeds Nicole Melichar-Martinez and Erin Routliffe in the first round.