Eala, Gauff grateful for crowd support

Two games into the women’s doubles event of the Italian Open and Alex Eala and Coco Gauff have already turned into crowd-darlings.

Alex Eala expressed gratitude to the large crowd that has been showing up as they make a deep run into the title of this prestigious Women’s Tennis Association-rated 1000 event.

They are facing champions and home bets Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini for a spot in the semifinals at press time.

“Thank you so much for the support that you have been giving us this week and hopefully in our next match, a lot of you will come out and watch,” said Eala, who definitely feels the love of the large Filipino community in Rome and neighboring Italian cities.

Even the 21-year-old Gauff was surprised at the support they have been getting.

“Super happy to play with Alex and hope you guys keep supporting us,” Gauff said.

Eala and Gauff have been tearing up the competition so far.

First, this new alliance made short work of Alexandra Panova of Russia and Fanny Stollar of Hungary, 6-3, 6-1, in the Round of 32.

Then, Eala and Gauff breezed past the Italian pair of Tyra Grant and Lisa Pigato, 6-2, 6-3, in the Round of 16 to set the stage for a quarterfinal encounter between another hometown squad.

But Errani and Paolini are expected to be tough nuts to crack for the powerhouse duo of Eala and Gauff.

For one, this Italian pair defeated Gauff in last year’s Italian Open final when she joined forces with Erin Routliffe of France, 3-6, 6-4 (10-8).

Yet Eala had already beaten Errani, 6-3, 6-1, in the qualifiers of the Miami Open last year, giving the Filipino-American tandem some edge.

Eala is hoping to win the doubles title with Gauff before shifting her focus to her main draw debut in the French Open on 25 May at the Roland Garros Stadium in Paris.