Alex Eala and Venus Williams at the Bad Homburg doubles tournament. Aimee Hilger
MANILA (UPDATED) -- Filipina tennis star Alex Eala and tennis icon Venus Williams advanced to the quarterfinals of the Bad Homburg Open doubles after a straightforward victory over Alexandra Osborne and Catherine Harrison, Tuesday on Court 1.
Eala and Williams took care of business, 6-3, 6-4, for a winning start to their partnership.
They dominated from the start, racing to a 4-1 lead against the unseeded duo of Harrison and Osborne.
Eala and Williams closed out the first set comfortably, but the second set proved trickier as Harrison and Osborne found their footing and took their first lead of the match at 2-1 after leveling at 1-all.
The teams went back-and-forth, with Harrison and Osborne last forcing a tie at 4-4.
But Eala and Williams were stronger in the end game, and they set up a quarterfinals showdown against No. 2 seeds Tereza Mihalikova of Slovakia and Olivia Nicholls of the United Kingdom.