The Alex Eala and Venus Williams reunion was cut short by Japan’s Miyu Kato and Russia’s Liudmila Samsonova, who emerged victorious in their women’s doubles first-round clash, 6-4, 6-3, on Friday morning at Stadium Court of Sobeys Stadium in the WTA 1000 Canadian Open.
World No. 45 Kato and No. 47 Samsonova, who reached the quarterfinals of the WTA 500 Upper Austria Ladies Linz Open as partners last April, struck first in the opening game of the first set by breaking Williams’ serve.
They appeared to be cruising to a comfortable 4-2 lead until Eala and Williams secured their first break in the eighth game to level the set at 4-4. The Filipina star and American legend had a chance to seize the lead in the ninth game, but the Japanese-Russian duo broke Williams for the second time before closing out the set in the 10th game.
Kato and Samsonova carried their momentum into the second set, racing to a 4-0 lead. Eala and Williams mounted a final push, winning three of the next five games to keep the score respectable, but that was as close as Kato and Samsonova would allow them to get.
The match ended in the ninth game after just one hour and 17 minutes.
Eala will now shift her attention back to singles, with her next match scheduled for Saturday at 8:10 a.m. Philippine time. The 25th seed will take on unseeded Caty McNally of the United States in a crucial third-round matchup.
World No. 70 McNally posted the biggest upset of the tournament so far when she eliminated Wimbledon champion and sixth seed Linda Noskova of the Czech Republic, 7-6 (5), 6-1, in the second round.
The 24-year-old American is enjoying the best singles season of her career despite being hampered by elbow and hamstring injuries that have slowed her progress. Just this June, she reached a career-high No. 50 in the world rankings.
Over the last two months, McNally has reached the quarterfinals of three WTA 250 events: the Libema Open in the Netherlands, the Lexus Eastbourne Open in Great Britain, and the Memphis Open in the United States.
The 5-foot-11 McNally plays aggressive tennis, often using her net game to finish points with winners. She developed that strength through doubles, where she reached the US Open finals in 2021 and 2022.
Because she regularly attacks and moves forward, McNally employs a mix of powerful drives and slices in her approach to the net.
Eala will need to find the angles and keep the ball deep in the corners to prevent McNally from rushing forward. If Eala can keep McNally pinned to the baseline, she will already have an advantage, as long rallies do not necessarily suit the American’s preferred playing style.
The winner of the Eala-McNally tussle will advance to the fourth round to face the winner of the match between world singles No. 14 Belinda Bencic of Switzerland and world doubles No. 2 Taylor Townsend of the United States.
