MANILA, Philippines — Filipino tennis ace Alex Eala explained why she made a last-minute withdrawal from the WTA 500 Mubadala doubles with American great Venus Williams.
Williams "re-paired" with Diana Shnaider on Sunday because Eala said she's not ready yet to play both singles and doubles this time in Washington.
Eala and Williams first teamed up at the Bad Homburg Open last month when they made a quarterfinal finish.
"I have so much respect for Venus. 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 Eala in a presser.
"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."
Eala will see action in the singles side, facing Zheng Qinwen in the first round on Tuesday.
