Youngsters Alexandra Eala and Iva Jovic proved too strong for Venus Williams and Elina Svitolina at the Auckland Classic on Monday morning.
Eala and Jovic, both 2025 Newcomer of the Year nominees, defeated Williams and Svitolina 7-6, 6-1 in New Zealand.
Williams, who gave Eala advice before her maiden appearance at the US Open, will now look to bounce back in her singles contest against Poland’s Magda Linette.
Williams, 45, has been on the comeback trail since making her return to the WTA Tour at the 2025 Washington Open.
Since then she has competed at the Cincinnati Open and US Open, and will play the 2026 Australian Open after receiving a wildcard.
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Alexandra Eala reflects on sharing the court with ‘two pioneers of the sport’ after defeating Venus Williams and Elina Svitolina
Following the contest, Eala reflected on the experience of playing Williams and Svitolina.
“Happy new year to everybody. Thank you so much for supporting me and Iva, I had such a great time on court,” Eala said in an on-court interview with the WTA Tour.
“I think we had a lot of fun and to start the year with such a moment like this, sharing the court with two pioneers of the sport and pioneers off the court as well, people I’ve looked up to since I was young.
“So I’m so happy to share this moment with you [Jovic] and all of you guys! [fans].”
Eala and Jovic, both ranked inside the WTA’s top 60 singles players, will play either Asia Muhammad and Erin Routliffe or Jesika Maleckova and Renata Zarazua in the second round.
In the singles, Eala will play former Wimbledon semi-finalist Donna Vekic, while Jovic is set to play Sara Bejlek in the second round after defeating Gabriela Knutson.
Svitolina, the top seed, will play Varavara Gracheva. As mentioned previously, Williams will play fifth seed Magda Linette.
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Venus Williams has a winning record against Magda Linette
Williams and Linette contested their first WTA Tour-level match almost 10 years ago.
The pair first met at the 2016 Fed Cup. In the third rubber between the USA and Poland, Williams defeated Linette 6-1, 6-2.
Their next match, taking place at the 2016 Bank of the West Classic in Stanford, was a much closer affair.
At the event, Williams defeated Linette 6-3, 6-7, 6-2.
