Tennis: Alex Eala, Coco Gauff sweep Italian pair, advance to q’finals in Rome
Filipina tennis star Alex Eala and Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff marched to the quarterfinals of the 2025 Italian Open women’s doubles in impressive fashion, Tuesday.
The first-time pair swept the Italian tandem of Tyra Grant and Lisa Pigato, 6-2, 6-3, in their round-of-16 match in Rome.
After cruising to victory in the opening set, Eala and Gauff were pushed by Grant and Pigato in the second, with the Italians threatening to tie the count in the eighth game after a slice by Grant forced a deuce point.
But Pigato sent a forehand long in the next rally to give Eala and Gauff a 5-3 lead, and Gauff held her serve in the next game to wrap up the victory. They clinched the win on their first match point, off a smartly-placed shot by Eala at the net.
Up next for Gauff and Eala is the formidable pair of Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini in the last eight.
Errani and Paolini are the defending champions, though they were pushed to three sets by the tandem of Leylah Fernandez and Yulia Putintseva in their own round-of-16 assignment before advancing.
