Playing with Venus Williams at the women’s doubles event of the Bad Homburg Open in Germany has been a surreal experience for Alex Eala.

The partnership between Eala and the seven-time Grand Slam champion has been nothing but smooth despite suffering a 3-6, 2-6 loss to Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalíkova and Great Britain’s Olivia Ann Nicholls in the quarterfinals of the prestigious Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 500 tournament at the Bad Homburg Tennis Club last Thursday.

Nicholls said beating a legend like Williams and a rising star like Eala wasn’t easy.

“Definitely not an easy match, playing someone with that many Grand Slams under their name,” she said.

“No, huge honor to share the court with Venus Williams. What a legend of the game, and it’s amazing to see her back playing.”

Her partner, agreed, stressing that Eala is a very good player while Williams’ experience made it very hard for them to pull off the win that send them to the semifinals.

“I mean, Alex is a very, very good player, but obviously we also played her this year and we’re meeting her much more often. To play against Venus or maybe against Serena during Wimbledon, it’s once in a lifetime. So always, even if you don’t want to, you have it in your head,” Mihalíkova stressed.

Despite the loss, the 21-year-old Filipina admitted that she was over the moon the moment she learned that she will be teaming up with the American legend, who has three Olympic gold medals under her belt.

“No, I think our teams got in contact. And of course, I was just like, ‘Yes!’” Eala told journalist Ben Rothenberg shortly after helping Williams post a 6-3, 6-4 win over Alexandra Osborne of Australia and Catherine Harrison of the United States that set the stage for a quarterfinal battle with Mihalíkova and Nicholls.

“But I mean, you know — everyone knows what Venus means to tennis, and what she has contributed to the sport, and to women’s sports — and to women in general.”

Eala said she’s already a winner as she savors the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of collaborating with one of her tennis idols for the first time ever.

“I’ve had the pleasure to share the court with her in Auckland earlier this year, playing against her in a doubles match, and now I couldn’t be more excited to be on the same side of the net. I’m ready to give it my all, have fun, and just absorb as much of her wisdom as I can,” said Eala, who is arguably one of the most popular players in the professional circuit today.

Eala hopes to pick up some advice from Williams as she prepares for the Wimbledon Championships at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club in London, which begin on 29 June.

Seeded 29th in the third Grand Slam of the year, the Rafael Nadal Academy graduate is simply elated to be part of the main draw.

“I do not want to downplay how big that means to me. I mean, to be a seed in a Slam — and Wimbledon, in particular, for me — it really touches close to home, so I’m super happy,” Eala said.

“I don’t know if I should say it, but Wimbledon has always kind of been my favorite Slam. There’s just something about it being played on grass, and the elegance and the tradition surrounding it. I think it’s very unique.”

Eala has been on a roll in her grass-court campaign this year after kicking it off with the Birmingham Classic title last 7 June.

She reached the Round of 16 of the Queen’s Club Championships before advancing to the semifinals of the Berlin Tennis Open, where she took down No. 2 Elena Rybakina of Kazakhstan and No. 8 Elina Svitolina of Ukraine in the same month.

Eala stressed that she is in peak shape and that the bandages seen on her arm were merely part of the precautionary measure by her team.

“Yeah, it’s nothing serious. I’m not injured or anything, just trying to keep the body together. You know how it is,” said Eala, who hopes to overcome her 6-3, 2-6, 1-6 loss to No. 37 Barbora Krejcikova in the first round of the Wimbledon last year.