The hilarious moment Alexandra Eala and Iva Jovic brought out dads to play during US Open exhibition

Alexandra Eala could soon be facing off against Iva Jovic again as deja vu continues between the pair as they were drawn to likely meet in the third round of the US Open next week, but they also took their friendship to the court for an exhibition during the Stars of the Open as well as their dads.

Jovic spoke tagalog on court, Eala's language while the latter spoke in Serbian showing their bond during an interview that they have decided to learn parts of each other's respective mother tongue so to speak. Jovic also hilariously quipped during the match that it was hard to focus due to the dress that Eala was wearing on the other side.

While they are fierce competitors and ironically seem to face each other a little bit too much for their own liking, they have become part of a new tennis clique of sorts albeit Jovic among others has pointed out in the past that everyone is welcome of rising tennis stars of a certain age who manage to put aside their competitive nature on court to be friends off it.

While they want to beat each other in each tournament, they spend time during the rigours of the tour together and unlike some dynamics in not only tennis but other sports dictate that in reality it isn't something you should do, the new refreshing rising tennis stars show it is possible.

Not only Jovic and Eala, but such players as Eva Lys, Coco Gauff, Zeynep Sonmez and Victoria Mboko are known to be friends with the American-Filipina duo with a cake even being brought out on court for Eala's birthday recently during practice.

Often in the age of social media, they can all be seen in each other's Instagram highlights and the US Open perhaps had a brilliant idea in this case to bring together Eala who is seen by many as almost the hottest tennis prospect of the moment due to her fanbase and also recent results with the future of American tennis in the minds of many in Iva Jovic.

At just 18, she is hurtling towards the top 10 and is a player often lauded for showing huge levels of maturity and poise both on court and in interviews for someone of such a young age and stature.

Hilariously though they took the word exhibition literally as towards the end of the match, they brought their fathers on court who can often be seen in the stands during their games and they brought them out to play with them in what was a brilliant moment. Eala and Jovic also exchanged messages in their native languages like alluded to.

Eala fought back from 2-0 down to tie the one-set affair at 3-3, but Jovic won the final three games to finish the exhibition tie in less than an hour 6-3. Jovic has now beaten Eala three times in 2026 including at the French Open and Queen's and like said will likely play again later in the tournament. Given she is a player with a hoodoo over her, Eala will both be sick of the sight of Jovic on court, but of course off it they are the best of friends so it is an interesting dynamic.