Coco Gauff and Alex Eala in exciting doubles partnership
Coco Gauff has finished runner-up in the women’s doubles at the Italian Open the past two years and she will hope to go one better at the 2025 edition with the help of another exciting youngster in Alex Eala.
The two exciting talents have accepted a wildcard entry into the WTA 1000 doubles event in what will be their first-ever tournament as a pair.
Gauff, of course, has a lot of experience on the doubles circuit as she is a former world No 1 and is the defending French Open champion alongside Katerina Siniakova.
The American has also won three WTA 1000 doubles trophies alongside Jessica Pegula while the pair were runners-up at the 2023 Italian Open.
But the American doubles team ended their partnership last year and Gauff has had several different partners since then, including Erin Routliffe at the 2024 edition of the Italian Open and they also finished runners-up.
The 21-year-old will next team up with the 19-year-old Eala and they have been placed in the top half of the main draw at Foro Italico.
Alexandra Panova and Fanny Stollar are their opponents in the first round on Saturday, but the order of play for the day is yet to be confirmed by organisers.
WTA News
Alex Eala +6 in WTA Rankings after suffering heavy loss on Italian Open debut
Iga Swiatek vs Coco Gauff vs Jessica Pegula: Battle for world No 2 at Italian Open
Should they get past Panova and Stoller, they are projected to meet seven seeds Anna Danilina and Irina Khromacheva in the second round while third seeds Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini are potential quarter-final opponents.
The Gauff-Eala performance will no doubt be one of the most intriguing stories in the women’s doubles as both are rising stars of the game.
Gauff made her breakthrough as a 15-year-old at Wimbledon 2019 and she went on to win the 2023 US Open when she was just 19-years-old. She peaked at No 2 in the WTA Rankings, but currently sits at No 3.
Besides Gauff, Mirra Andreeva (18), Diana Shnaider (21) and Linda Noskova (20) are some of the other youngsters in the top 30 of the rankings.
“From a personal, yeah, it’s great to have people around my age. I’ve always, like, said it was always hard for me to make friends on tour when I first came because I was just way younger than everyone. I was 15.
“There are not other 15- or 16-year-olds playing these tournaments week in, week out. The closest was like a 19-, 20-year-olds, maybe outside of Iga.
“But now having more friends around, it does make a difference. I feel different on-site just being able to have conversations, relate-ability. Not that the older players weren’t nice to me, they were. It’s just different. They’re getting married, planning their lives out. I’m just still trying to figure it out.
“It’s good to figure it out with other people.”
Eala, meanwhile, made her breakthrough only a couple of months ago when she stunned 2017 French Open winner Jelena Ostapenko, reigning Australian Open champion Madison Keys and five-time Grand Slam winner Iga Swiatek en route to reaching the semi-final of the Miami Open.
She surged into the top 80 of the rankings on the back of that run, becoming the highest-ranked Filipina in the history of the WTA Tour.
The teenager has since climbed to No 64 in the Live Rankings, but she suffered an early exit from the singles at the Italian Open as she was beaten in straight sets by Marta Kostyuk.
