'She DM’d me on Instagram': Coco Gauff reveals how unexpected Rome doubles pairing with Eala began

Coco Gauff and Alexandra Eala stole the spotlight at the start of the week when they were announced as a doubles partnership for the Rome Open. The unexpected doubles pair overcame the first round this Saturday against Aleksandra Panova and Fanny Stollar (6-3, 6-1) and will meet locals Lisa Pigato and Tyra Grant in the round of 16.

Gauff has been focusing exclusively on singles this season, after a couple of highly successful seasons in doubles, especially alongside Jessica Pegula – with whom she played in the WTA Finals twice and both reached world No. 2 in the category.

The 21-year-old American had not played any doubles tournaments during the entire initial part of the year, and only appeared for the first time in the category alongside Robin Montgomery at the recent Madrid Open, where they reached the quarterfinals.

This time in Rome, she again made space in her schedule for doubles, partnering with Filipina Alexandra Eala. The 19-year-old player was relatively unknown on the Tour until a couple of months ago, when she made a big leap by reaching her first WTA 1000 semifinals at the Miami Open, defeating two top-5 rivals along the way.

Eala fell in the first round of Rome singles against Marta Kostyuk, but remains alive in the doubles alongside Gauff. The 2023 US Open champion, on her part, is already in the 4th round of singles, where she is preparing to face Emma Raducanu.

In Gauff's most recent press conference – after overcoming Magda Linette in straight sets – one of the topics she touched on was how the partnership with Eala came about. “She DM’d me on Instagram,” Gauff said. “She slid in my DMs and asked me to play. I was like, “Sure, why not?”

“We really didn’t know each other, honestly, before Madrid. I said hi to her for the first time in Madrid or maybe Miami, we may have briefly said hello. I figured she would be nice so I was just hoping she would be, you know?

“Obviously, she’s such a nice person. When there’s people finally my age on tour, I’m glad to interact. For me, it was a good opportunity to play doubles but also have a relaxed vibe with another player. I’m super happy to play with her, and obviously she’s a killer in doubles: two junior Slams and probably some future ones too.”

Gauff will return to the court for singles on Monday against Emma Raducanu, while in doubles she will have to wait until Tuesday to play the round of 16 alongside Eala.