Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic owns 10 Grand Slam doubles titles, while Taylor Townsend of the United States has two.
Both are former world No. 1s in doubles — and on Saturday, they showed exactly why, with Alex Eala and Zeynep Sonmez on the opposite side of the net to witness it.
The second-seeded Siniakova and Townsend made quick work of Eala and Sonmez, 6-1, 7-5, at Court 7 of Caja Mágica in Manzanares Park on Saturday in the second round of the WTA Mutua Madrid Open doubles event.
The Czech-American pair came out firing, breaking Sonmez in the opening game and racing to a 2-0 lead.
Eala held serve in the third game, but that proved to be their only bright spot in the first set.
The second seeds dominated the rest of the frame, sweeping the remaining games to wrap up the set in just seven games.
Eala, ranked 101st in the world in doubles, and Sonmez, ranked 498th, fell behind 1-3 in the second set but found a response, breaking serve twice to take their first lead of the match at 4-3. They even earned a golden opportunity to level the match in the tenth game, holding a set point on Eala’s serve.
However, Siniakova and Townsend held their composure and showed their experience under pressure.
They broke back to level at 5-5 before sweeping the final two games to close out the match after one hour and 10 minutes.
The pair entered Madrid riding momentum from their “Sunshine Double,” having won titles at Indian Wells and the Miami Open.
With her Madrid Open campaign now over, Eala will shift her focus to La Bisbal d’Empordà in Girona, where she will compete in the 2026 Catalonia Open Solgironès from April 27 to May 3.
She will enter the WTA 125 event as the sixth seed.
The top two seeds are familiar opponents for Eala — she previously lost to both in 2026. Canada’s Leylah Fernandez is the top seed, while China’s Wang Xinyu is seeded second.
