All it took Alex Eala was a simple direct message (DM) on Instagram (IG) to convince Coco Gauff to serve as her partner in the women’s doubles event of the Italian Open in Rome.

In an interview with tennis.com, Gauff revealed that her tandem with the Filipina rising star took shape after she slid into her DM on IG, requesting her to become her partner.

Eala’s bold request paid a handsome reward as the prized American instantly agreed, leading to the formation of one of the most powerful and interesting tandems in the ongoing Italian Open.

Their unity led to a strong performance as they made short work of Alexandra Panova of Russia and Fanny Stollar of Hungary in the Round of 32, 6-3, 6-1.

Now, the Eala-Gauff tandem will be facing Tyra Grant and Lisa Pigato of Italy for a win that will send them to the quarterfinals either against the pair of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini or the tandem of Kazakh Yulia Putintseva and Filipino-Canadian Leylah Fernandez.

“She DM’d me on Instagram. She slid in my DMs and asked me to play. I was like, ‘sure, why not?’” Gauff said in an interview with the popular tennis website.

“We really didn’t know each other, honestly, before Madrid. I said ‘hi’ to her for the first time in Madrid or maybe Miami, we may have briefly said ‘hello.’ I figured she would be nice so I was just hoping she would be, you know?”

The 21-year-old Gauff added that she likes Eala right from the start. For one, they are of the same age range — and the same fighting mindset — so getting along with her was a breeze.

“Obviously, she’s such a nice person,” Gauff said.

“When there’s people finally of my age on tour, I’m glad to interact. For me, it was a good opportunity to play doubles but also have a relaxed vibe with another player.”

“I’m super happy to play with her, and obviously she’s a killer in doubles: Two junior Slams and probably some future ones too.”

Eala and Gauff are both on a mission in the doubles event.

The American, in fact, has yet to win the doubles event of the Italian Open since falling short in 2023 and 2024 while Eala is still chasing her first doubles titles since winning the juniors crown in the Australian Open in 2020 and French Open in 2021.

Gauff said she admires how Eala has been handling the pressure that started to mount when she advanced to the quarterfinals of the Miami Open.

“She seems to be handling it super well. There’s ups and downs in the sport, but you realize that the media is there to kind of paint that story and make it more interesting, but that shouldn’t be added pressure or anything like that,” she said, adding that Eala’s calmness in a pressure-packed event is truly admirable.

“She seems chill. She seems like she’s working hard, so I don’t have any advice for her just because she seems relaxed.”

“The only thing I did tell her was that doubles helped me a lot in that space, having some time on court where it’s a little less stressful. So, I encouraged her to play when she could.”