Eala, Venus Williams ousted in Bad Homburg Open doubles quarterfinals

MANILA, Philippines -- The dream pairing of Alex Eala and Venus Williams has seen its end after the pair fell to the second-seeded duo of Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls, 3-6, 2-6, in the Bad Homburg Open doubles’ quarterfinal Thursday evening (Manila time) in Germany. 

The Filipina star and the American icon could not solve the puzzle that is Nicholls and Mihalikova, who won six straight games at one point. 

Eala and Williams led in the first set, 3-2, after holding their serve. 

But their British-Slovakian opponents won the next six games to grab the first set, 6-3, and take a 2-0 lead in the second set. 

Their opponents, though, kept themselves alive after breaking the serve of Nicholls and Mihalikova, 2-1. 

But Nicholls and Mihalikova did not skip a beat, taking back the game after a double fault, 3-1. 

This continued on, as they pushed their opponents to the brink of the loss, 5-1. 

But Williams kept their duo in it, 2-5, before Nicholls and Mihalikova fended the Filipino-American pair off for the win, 6-2. 

Eala and Williams defeated Alexandra Osborne and Catherine Harrison in the round of 16 of the tournament. 

The next tourney for the Filipina is Wimbledon. Last year, she fell in the first round of the Grand Slam, and this time around, she aims to have a deeper run.