Eala-Williams tandem yields to Nicholls-Mihalíková duo, exits Bad Homburg Open doubles

Kim Vincent Verano

The dream pairing of Filipina tennis star Alex Eala and seven-time Grand Slam singles champion Venus Williams faltered against the world No. 29 doubles pair of Olivia Nicholls and Tereza Mihalíková, 6–3, 6–2, settling for a quarterfinal finish in the Bad Homburg Open women’s doubles in Germany, June 25.

Despite teaming for the first time, Eala and Williams marched to the round of 16 before battling through a tougher test past the second-seeded tandem Nicholls and Mihalíková, who were freshly crowned with Queen’s Club doubles title, and this time overwhelmed the highly anticipated pairing.

“To play against Venus or maybe against Serena at Wimbledon, it’s once in a lifetime. So, even if you don’t want to, you have it in your head,” Mihalíková admitted in the post-game interview after facing the tennis’ greatest of all-time, according to the Daily Tribune.

“But what a player, both of them. And it was a tough match. Also, the weather was tough to play in.”

The quarterfinal battle showed a back-and-forth dogfight level at 3–3, until the British-Slovak duo pulled away, targeting long hard balls contra Eala and avoiding Williams to take control to grab a 4–3 lead.

The second-seeded pair then sealed the first set after breaking serve twice and launched four straight points to end the first clash at 6–3.

Eala and Williams refused to fold easily and rallied back in the second set but were unable to close-out multiple break points that pushed their opponents a dominating 5–1 advantage.

A breakpoint in the seventh game was achieved by the Eala-Williams pair to try to prolong the match however, the long-time duo of Nicholls and Mihalíková immediately responded to claim the victory, 6–2.

Despite the short-lived partnership, Alex and Venus proved to be a promising tandem after dominating the first match the night before despite having less than a day to prepare for this game.

As the Bad Homburg campaign concluded, the duo will now shift their focus to Wimbledon, where Eala will compete as the No. 29 seeded in the singles draw, while Williams will reunite with sister Serena Williams in the doubles tournament, beginning this June 29.