The Alex Eala-Venus Williams doubles break-up didn’t last long as the pair will team up again at the Canadian Open.
Fresh from winning her maiden WTA Tour singles title by defeating Jessica Pegula in the rain-delayed Washington DC Open final on Monday, Eala will be back in action on Wednesday evening as she will play her first match at the WTA 1000 event in Toronto.
The Filipina has been given top billing as she will take on Alycia Parks on Centre Court, but she won’t get much of a breather after that as she will return to court on Thursday afternoon as she will partner with the great Williams in the doubles with the team accepting a late wildcard into the main draw.
The Eala-Williams reunion comes barely a week after their false start in Washington as they also accepted a wildcard at the WTA 500 event, but Eala then withdrew, leaving the American to partner Diana Shnaider.
When asked about the decision, Eala stated: “I do think this is my first week coming back, and I think that Venus is someone who deserves a partner who can give their all physically, emotionally, mentally when they’re on court with her.
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“I think right now I think I can only do that for singles. I don’t have the capacity yet to be able to give that in both singles and doubles. I’m really grateful for the opportunity that I had, or have, and hopefully we see more of it in the future.”
The 21-year-old feels she has the capacity again as she will feature alongside the former world No 1 in the opening round of the WTA 1000 event with Liudmila Samsonova and Miyu Kato their opponents.
The duo, of course, already have a win under their belts as a team as they partnered on grass at the Bad Homburg Open in June, winning their opening match before losing in the quarter-final.
“With Venus, I’m really, really excited to be playing doubles with her again,” Eala said. “I said last week that, you know, every opportunity I get to share the court with her is super cherished, of course, you know, she’s super good and [laughter] I think she’s got a great mentality and there’s so much I can learn from her.
“So, really excited to be doing that in a different setting. I think it will be very fun and, you know, I think with the Filipino community and of course the amazing fans that she has, I think it will be a great atmosphere.”
