Alex Eala will instead focus on singles action as he takes on Asian Games tormentor Zheng Qinwen of China in the opening round of the Washington Open.
MANILA, Philippines – Plans for a rematch between Alex Eala and tennis player Venus Williams have fallen through.
The Filipino will instead focus on singles play at the Washington Open in the US while Williams will team up with fellow American Diana Shnaider in doubles.
Eala and Williams were announced as partners for the WTA 500 tournament and even trained together a few days before the start of the tournament, but the draw released on Saturday, July 25, showed otherwise.
The development dampened Eala and Williams’ ambitions to go further after joining forces for the first time and achieving quarter finals of the Bad Homburg Open in Germany in June.
Eala opens her campaign against China’s Zheng Qinwen in the round of 32 as two Asian players meet on the WTA Tour for the first time.
But Eala and Zheng know each other – the former Chinese world No. 4 beating the Philippines in the 2022 Asian Games semifinals en route to a gold medal.
Much has changed, though, as Eala is now ranked 29th in the world while Zheng is just outside the top 100 at 123rd.
Eala comes from a good homecoming, where he was respected and President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and was warmly welcomed by the fans.
The 21-year-old hopes to build on the momentum from her impressive grass court campaign which she capped off with a historic run to the fourth round of the Wimbledon Championships as he begins the hard court battle in Washington. – Rappler.com
