MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala will no longer see action at the WTA 500 Mubadala D.C. doubles in Washington.
This, after her pre-announced partner Venus Williams 're-paired' with Diana Shnaider as shown in the doubles draw held early Sunday in Manila.
Asked about the last-minute change, 14-time major doubles champ Williams did not go into detail but said she'd love to team up with Alex again.
“We had a great time playing at Bad Homburg so we were looking forward to playing again. It didn’t work out this time. I would love for there to be future times. We’ll see what happens.”
Eala and Williams first teamed up at the Bad Homburg Open where they made a quarterfinal finish last month.
More than a week ago, Mubadala announced that Eala and Williams were back as partners with a wildcard entry.
On Friday night, Eala and Williams were even practicing.
Williams and Shnaider will face Ulrikke Eikeri and Quinn Gleason in the first round (round of 16).
Eala remains in the singles draw, though, as she faces Zheng Qinwen in the opening round.
