MANILA, Philippines — Alex Eala will get another chance at having a noteworthy Italian Open stint, this time in doubles as she teams up with World No. 3 Coco Gauff of the United States.
The Filipina-American tandem will slug it out against Alexandra Panova of Russia and Fanny Stollar of Hungary in the Round of 64 Friday.
Gauff is playing in the doubles first after gaining a bye in the singles of the Italian Open.
The 21-year old Gauff is a doubles champion in the 2024 French Open with Katerina Siniaková of the Czech Republic, making it a strong chance for her and Eala in Rome.
Eala, for her part, won the girls’ doubles in the 2020 Australian Open with Priska Madelyn Nugroho of Indonesia and the 2021 French Open with Russian partner Oksana Selekhmeteva.
The Filipina sensation earlier absorbed a near shutout against world No. 27 Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine, 6-0, 6-1, to bow out early in Round 1 of the tournament’s singles play.
Eala bled for just a game in the second set after being wiped out in the first, crashing out of Rome tourney in just a little over an hour of play.
The Italian Open serves as Eala’s final tourney before a much-awaited Grand Slam main draw debut in the French Open on May 25 to June 8 in Paris
