Gauff to Eala: Play more doubles

If there is one piece of advice Coco Gauff would give to her new on-court partner Alex Eala, it would be to play more games in the doubles.

Gauff, ranked No. 3 in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), said playing in the doubles would help Eala hone her game as she moves forward with her professional career.

“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,” the 21-year-old Gauff told tennis.com.

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

Eala and Gauff are currently playing against the home bets Tyra Grant and Lisa Pigato in the Round of 16 of the Italian Open as of writing.

So far, this is the only WTA 1000 tournament that Eala competed in the doubles as she would focus on competing in the women’s singles.

But the 19-year-old Rafael Nadal Academy is no stranger to success in the women’s doubles as it was where two of her three junior Grand Slam titles came from.

Eala joined forces with Priska Nugroho of Indonesia to clinch the 2020 Australian Open title before linking up with Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia a year later for the French Open crown.

Gauff also lauded Eala’s composure and maturity on the court despite being one of the youngest players in the WTA Top 100.

“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,” Gauff said.