Filipina tennis star Alex Eala is set to share the court once again with a Grand Slam champion—but this time, as doubles partners.
Eala will team up with former US Open champion and world No. 3 Coco Gauff of the United States in the Italian Open, her manager confirmed to ABS-CBN News early Thursday morning, Manila time.
The pair will face Alexandra Panova of Russia and Fanny Stollár of Hungary in the round of 32.
This marks another significant milestone for the 19-year-old Eala, whose profile has risen steadily following her impressive run to the semifinals of the Miami Open in late March. She currently holds a WTA ranking of 70.
Eala will also begin her singles campaign in Rome on Thursday morning, where she is set to compete against Ukraine’s Marta Kostyuk.
She has achieved notable success in doubles at the juniors level, having won the 2020 Australian Open and the 2021 French Open.
Meanwhile, the 21-year-old Gauff, a former world No. 1 in doubles, secured the 2024 French Open title alongside Kateřina Siniaková of the Czech Republic.
In singles, Gauff is seeded fourth in the Italian Open and has received a bye to the second round, where she will take on Canada’s Victoria Mboko.
Meantime, Marta Kostyuk broke Alex Eala’s serve and never relinquished control. as the Ukrainian quickly asserted her dominance, racing to a 3-0 lead after breaking Eala twice in rapid succession en route to a 6-0-6-1 win.
Kostyuk maintained her aggressive momentum, securing a third break to extend her advantage to 5-0 before clinically serving out the first set at 6-0. Eala struggled to find her rhythm, unable to counter Kostyuk’s relentless, well-placed forehands that dictated the pace and constantly shifted direction.
The second set brought no reprieve, as Kostyuk claimed her eighth consecutive game for a 2-0 lead, followed by yet another break—her fifth in a row—to widen the gap to 3-0. Eala finally managed to hold serve, putting herself on the scoreboard at 1-4 and drawing cheers from a supportive Filipino crowd during the Rome evening session.
However, the comeback never materialized. Kostyuk held serve to move ahead 5-1, then broke Eala one final time to seal the match with a commanding 6-0, 6-1 victory in just over an hour.
