Alexandra Eala and Venus Williams were set to play doubles once again at the Washington Open, but the Filipina decided against it just before the beginning of the tournament.
Eala and Williams had previously made their doubles debut at Bad Homburg, where they reached the quarter finals of the grass court tournament.
The pair appeared on the entry list for Washington, but Eala was swiftly replaced with Diana Shnaider before the beginning of the tournament.
In her pre-tournament press conference, Williams explained the reason behind the sudden shift.
“We had a great time playing at Bad Homburg so we were looking forward to playing again.” said Williams. “Didn’t work out this time. Would love for there to be future times. We’ll see what happens.”
Eala divulged more information on the reason she rejected Williams, suggesting she wanted to focus all of her attention on the singles draw.
“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,” said the 21-year-old.
“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.
“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.”
Now, Andy Roddick has had his say on the snub and he has backed Eala’s decision to turn down the chance to play with the multi-time Grand Slam champion once again.
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“If I was a young player, I would be submitting my resume to play with Venus as long as she’s out there. I just think that would be so cool,” said the American on Served.
“So, I’m happy Eala already got to do it, but like irrespective of if it’s Venus or someone else, you still have to be responsible to your body.
“And the goal of the summer is to make runs at these tournaments and I don’t think Eala’s at the point where she’s prioritising doubles over singles.”
Eala begins her Washington Open campaign against Qinwen Zheng in the first round. The Chinese star, who is an Olympic Gold Medalist and former Grand Slam finalist, has been given a wildcard by the American tournament.
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