Iconic duo Alex Eala and Venus Williams fell to the pairing of Eri Kato and Liudmila Samsonova, 4-6, 3-6, in the first round of the National Bank Open doubles on Friday (Manila time).
Kato and Samsonova raced out to a 2-0 lead before Eala held to pull one back at 2-1 in a quick, sharp game.
The Japanese-Russian pairing moved ahead 3-2 then 4-2, but Eala and Williams produced a strong break to level at 4-4 and breathe new life into the set.
But the momentum swung back.
A competitive game at 5-4 saw Venus broken, and Kato and Samsonova closed out the first set 6-4 in just 38 minutes of high-level tennis.
The second set saw Eala and Williams trail 0-4. But the pair refused to fold, fighting back point by point to claw their way to 2-4.
Yet Kato and Samsonova steadied to take the set 6-3 and the match.
Eala now turns her full focus back to singles, where she continues her campaign at the WTA 1000 National Bank Open against Caty McNally.
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