Eala-Gauff tandem falls apart in Rome

Alex Eala’s journey in the Italian Open finally ended as she and Coco Gauff were booted out by defending champions and home bets Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini, 5-7, 6-3 (7-10) in the women’s doubles quarterfinal on Thursday at the Grand Arena Stadium in Rome.

Eala, 19, and Gauff, 21, fought gallantly for one hour and 36 minutes but it wasn’t enough as the Errani-Paolini tandem came out on top in the end.

It was deja vu for the world No. 3 Gauff after losing to the same Italian pair in the final last year when she and Erin Routliffe of France joined forces.

Sideliners believe fatigue might have played a factor in the American netter as she was coming off a 6-4, 7-6 win over teen sensation Mirra Andreeva in the quarterfinal of the women’s singles.

Still, it was still a job well done for the Filipino-American duo that was formed through an Instagram message.

“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,” Gauff said.

Eala and Gauff started their doubles campaign with a sweep over Alexandra Panova of Russia and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-3, 6-1, in the Round of 32 in 59 minutes.

Then Eala and Gauff breezed past the Italian pair of Tyra Grant and Lisa Pigato, 6-2, 6-3, in the Round of 16.

As Eala is gearing up for her main draw debut in the French Open on 25 May, she has two competitions to choose from to continue her preparations.

She could join either the Internationaux de Strasbourg in France from 18 to 24 May or the Morocco Open from 17 to 24 May in Rabat.