Coco Gauff set to make doubles return with rising Filipino star Alexandra Eala at Rome Open

The women's doubles draw was set on Wednesday with one intriguing wild card pairing in particular as Coco Gauff is set to pair up with Alexandra Eala at the Rome Open. Get the team names at the ready.

Gauff will aim to go one better than the last two years when she reached the final losing with regular partner of yesteryear Jessica Pegula and Erin Routliffe in 2023 and 2024. But perhaps some sort of a lack of expectation needs to be placed.

Eala is making her debut at the Masters 1000 level in doubles but given a crushing 6-0, 6-1 loss to Marta Kostyuk on Wednesday, she will have plenty of time to practice for it.

The duo meet Alexandra Panova and Fanny Stollar in their opener. Gauff still plays doubles but not as much as she used to with it becoming more of a rarity as both the American and Pegula decided to part ways with an eye towards singles.

Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini will run it back after winning last season. They are third seeds. Erin Routliffe returns again and will partner Gabriela Dabrowski while Katerina Siniakova and Zhang Shuai operate the bottom slot as second seeds.

Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider team again, while Daria Kasatkina could unleash her inner dawg when she teams with Peyton Stearns. Perhaps one for her weekly vlog. Linda Noskova also pairs with Clara Tauson.

Given that Anna Kalinskaya and Sorana Cirstea won Madrid last week and Ashlyn Krueger/Victoria Azarenka also impressed, perhaps an Eala and Gauff dream team could provide the tonic this week.