MANILA, Philippines — The young gun and legend duo of Filipina Alex Eala and American Venus Williams bowed to the pair of Russian Liudmila Samsonova and Japanese Miyu Kato, 4-6, 3-6, in the first round of the National Bank Open doubles on Friday morning (Manila time) at Sobeys Stadium Centre Court in Toronto, Canada.
The 21-year-old Eala and the 46-year-old Williams could not contain the fiery blows of the 27-year-old Samsonova and 31-year-old Kato..
Eala and Williams paired for the first time in the 2026 Bad Homburg Open last June. They made a stellar debut as a doubles partner after defeating the American-Australian tandem of Catherine Harrison and Alexandra Osborne, 6-3, 6-4, in the round of 16 at the Bad Homburg Open.
The Russian and Japanese duo, on the other hand, reached a quarterfinal berth in the 2026 Linz Open. They also played together in the Queen’s Club Championship in June 2026, but fell to Gabriela Dabrowski and Luisa Stefani in the round of 16.
They will face the winner of McCartney Kessler and Jessica Pegula’s clash over Sara Errani and Nicole Melichar-Martinez set on Saturday.
