ALEXANDRA “ALEX” EALA is opting to focus on the singles campaign, explaining her last-minute withdrawal from the doubles play for a reunion with American great Venus Williams in the Mubadala DC Open in Washington starting on Tuesday.
With the Mubadala DC Open serving as her first tournament in the hard-court swing this season, Ms. Eala said it will be a disservice to Ms. Williams if she has to juggle acts while adjusting from a clay-court transition.
“I have so much respect for Venus (Williams). I am so grateful for every opportunity that I have to be around her, to learn from her, to hit with her. But 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,” said Ms. Eala during the pre-tournament presser on Monday.
Ms. Eala will instead play in the singles alone, clashing against Olympic champion Zheng Qinwen of China, WTA No. 123, at a still-to-be-determined game time and court designation on Tuesday pending the completion of the qualifiers.
It’s the first of Ms. Eala’s three tournaments as part of her build-up to the US Open set on Aug. 30 to Sept. 13 in Flushing Meadows, New York. She will also vie in the National Bank Open in Toronto and Cincinnati Open back in the US.
Sans Ms. Eala, Ms. Williams (No. 124 in doubles) will continue in the doubles with a different partner in No. 33 Diana Shnaider of Russia. They will go up against No. 35 Quinn Gleason of the United States and No. 39 Ulrikke Eikeri of Norway.
Ms. Eala, WTA No. 29 in singles and No. 127 in doubles, is coming off a two-week break after her stellar grass-season campaign marked by a Round of 16 finish in the Wimbledon, a title in Birmingham and a Final Four finish in Berlin.
The 21-year-old Filipina teamed up with the 46-year-old Ms. Williams, a 23-time Grand Slam champion and four-time Olympic gold medalist, in a quarterfinal finish in Bad Homburg in Germany, also a grass tourney.
Ms. Eala and Ms. Williams even trained over the weekend before the sudden change as Ms. Eala admitted that she lacks readiness as of the moment to play competitively in doubles.
“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,” added Ms. Eala.
In a separate interview, Ms. Williams has no problem in the development and will still look forward to playing with the rising star in future tournaments.
“We had a great time playing at Bad Homburg so we were looking forward to playing again. It didn’t work out this time (but) I would love for there to be future times. We’ll see what happens,” said Ms. Williams, WTA No. 664, who will also play singles against No. 28 Anastasia Potapova in Round 1. — John Bryan Ulanday