Two weeks after inaugurating its basketball courts, Mighty Sports Center will officially open its volleyball courts at AcroCity in Guiguinto, Bulacan, on Saturday, October 10, in what promises to be another festive affair.

Rising star Jolina Dela Cruz and veterans Jovelyn Gonzaga and Rachell Anne Daquiz, along with the rest of the ZUS Coffee Thunderbelles, will join the celebration dubbed “SET.SPIKE.PLAY.”

AcroCity and Czark Mak chairman Caesar Wongchuking, a longtime sports patron, said that aside from the exhibition match between ZUS Coffee and the Makata Selection of Bulacan at 4 p.m., the event will also feature a meet-and-greet session where fans can interact with their PVL idols.

“Just like the inauguration of the basketball courts, fans can interact with these professional volleyball players,” said Wongchuking. “It’s our own little way to giving back to communities.”

Wongchuking added that proceeds from the event will go to Tahanang Mapagpala of Immaculada Concepcion Foundation, Inc. He also thanked ZUS Coffee owner Frank Lao for allowing his players to take part in the celebration.

Also expected to grace the event are Bulacan Vice Governor Alex Castro and Malolos City Mayor Christian Natividad.

The volleyball courts are part of the Mighty Sports Center at AcroCity, a development envisioned as a “Live, Work, Play” destination in Guiguinto.

Aside from its basketball and volleyball courts and modern fitness center, AcroCity is also home to Acro Residences Hotel, restaurants such as Cafe de Margaux and Mt. Fuji, and event venues including Ang Hardin and NDW Plaza, which is named after the Wongchuking family matriarch, Nelia D. Wongchuking.

The post ZUS Coffee to grace Mighty Sports Center volleyball court launch appeared first on Tiebreaker Times.

Alex Eala and Shaira Rivera hurdled their first test as a doubles pair, defeating Hong Kong’s Kallista Liu and Lai Ching Laam, 6-1, 6-3, in the opening round of the women’s doubles tournament at the 20th Asian Games Aichi-Nagoya 2026 on Tuesday.

With the outdoor courts washed out by continuous rain, Eala and Rivera had their original schedule pushed back to the evening. The long delay, however, did little to disrupt their rhythm as they quickly took control of the match.

Eala, ranked No. 127 in the world in doubles, and Rivera, a standout at NCAA Division II school University of West Alabama, needed little time to jell as a pair.

(C) POC Media

After their opponents held serve in the opening game, the Filipinas rattled off six straight games to take the first set in just 33 minutes.

The second set lasted a bit longer, but Eala and Rivera remained in control for most of the way to seal the victory at the Higashiyama Park Tennis Center.

The road ahead, however, will be considerably tougher in the second round. Eala and Rivera will face doubles specialists and third seeds Jiang Xinyu and Yang Zhaoxuan of China.

The 27-year-old Jiang is ranked No. 22 in the world in doubles and recently reached the Wimbledon semifinals. Then Yang, 31, has a career-high doubles ranking of No. 9 and has also reached the semifinals of the French Open.

Both Filipinas are also into the next round in their other competitions — Rivera with partner Francis Alcantara in mixed doubles, and Eala in the women’s singles.

The post Alex Eala, Shaira Rivera roll into Asian Games doubles second round appeared first on Tiebreaker Times.

It was supposed to be a routine early-round match, with the tournament’s second seed expected to breeze past an opponent ranked 162 places below her in the world rankings.

Instead, an off-form Alex Eala was forced to grind through a tough battle but ultimately could not summon a victory.

Eala failed to overcome a lethargic start and a sputtering finish as she fell to Russia’s Tatiana Prozorova, 6-4, 5-7, 3-6, in the second round of the 2026 Singapore Tennis Open on the indoor hardcourt of the OCBC Arena at The Kallang.

The 22-year-old Prozorova, who failed to advance through the qualifiers of all four Grand Slam tournaments this year and has played mostly in WTA 125 events, showed her fighting spirit in the opening round by rallying from a set down to defeat Belgium’s Sofia Costoulas, 5-7, 7-6 (2), 6-2.

Ranked No. 180 in the world, Prozorova was determined to turn what was expected to be a mismatch against the world No. 18 from the Philippines into a dogfight.

Eala was broken in the fourth game of the opening set and quickly found herself trailing 1-3. The Washington Open champion responded by earning five break points in the fifth game, then swept the next four games to seize a 5-3 advantage.

Prozorova narrowed the gap by holding serve in the ninth game, but Eala converted her seventh set point in the 10th to take the opening set after an hour and seven minutes.

The second set initially appeared to be going Eala’s way. She broke Prozorova in the third game to take a 2-1 lead, only for the Russian to immediately level at 2-2.

Eala responded by taking the next two games to move ahead 4-2, but any hopes of closing out the match in straight sets were quickly dashed as Prozorova continued to find winners from different angles.

The Russian won five of the next six games to snatch the second set, stunning both her higher-ranked opponent and the predominantly Filipino crowd.

The third set turned into a seesaw battle.

Prozorova kept her foot on the gas and raced to a 2-0 lead, but sensing the match beginning to slip away, Eala responded with greater urgency and won the next three games to regain the upper hand.

Prozorova leveled at 3-3 and then found herself in danger in the crucial seventh game. The Russian, however, saved four break points to hold serve, reclaim the lead, and seemingly sap the fight out of the Filipina.

Eala then dropped serve at love, allowing Prozorova to storm ahead 5-3.

The Russian closed out the match in the ninth game, completing the upset after three hours and 11 minutes.

The post Alex Eala stunned by world No. 180 in Singapore Open upset appeared first on Tiebreaker Times.