The Philippines’ Alex Eala and USA’s Coco Gauff move on to the Italian Open doubles quarterfinal round.–Photo from Tennis.com
MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala and Coco Gauff kissed their Italian Open doubles campaign goodbye after falling to the defending champions in the quarterfinals.
First-time partners Gauff and Eala couldn’t capitalize on their first-set lead as Italians Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini escaped with a 5-7, 6-3, 7-10 win on Thursday (Manila time) in Rome.
READ: No slowing down Alex Eala’s ascent despite early exits
The duo was a point away from winning the opening set with a 5-3 lead and 40-0 advantage in the ninth game, but Errani and Paolini won four consecutive games to steal the set instead.
Eala and Gauff bounced back and dominated the second set to force a decider, but the defending champions displayed grace under pressure and prevailed against the Filipino-American duo in the third to advance to the semifinal after a thrilling one-hour and 36-minute duel.
Tennis – Italian Open – Foro Italico, Rome, Italy – May 7, 2025 Philippines’ Alexandra Eala in action during her round of 128 match against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk REUTERS/Aleksandra Szmigiel
Despite the quarterfinal exit, the 19-year-old Eala found a new friend in the World No.3 player Gauff. Their partnership was a hit on social media, with several fans sharing their ideas for the name of their duo during their Italian Open run.
READ: Alex Eala, Coco Gauff off to smashing start in Italian Open doubles
Gauff, who earlier in the day advanced to the singles semifinals, said Eala had messaged her on social media and asked to partners in the doubles tournament.
“She [Eala] slid in my DMs and asked me to play. And I was like, Sure. Why not? “We really didn’t know each other, honestly, before in Madrid, I said hi to her for the first time,” Gauff said in an earlier interview.
“So I was just hoping she would be nice, and you know, and obviously she’s such a nice person. And obviously she’s a killer in doubles, two junior slams and probably future ones too. I’m super happy to play with her.”
Eala and Gauff got off to a sweeping start, defeating Fanny Stollar of Hungary and Alexandra Panova of Russia, 6-3, 6-1, in their first game together in the Round of 32. They also dominated home bets Tyra Grant and Lisa Pigato, 6-2, 6-3 in the round of 16.
Gauff will compete in the WTA 1000 Internazionali BNL d’Italia singles semifinals against Zheng Qinweng after outlasting Mirra Andreeva, 6-4, 7-6(5).
Your subscription could not be saved. Please try again.
Your subscription has been successful.
Eala, who dropped her opening match in Rome, meanwhile, will be shifting her focus to her women’s Grand Slam main draw debut at French Open which opens on May 25.
