SUSTAINING their fiery chemistry, first-time partners Alex Eala of the Philippines and Coco Gauff of the US swept past the Italian pair of Lisa Pigato and Ty Caterina Grant 6-2, 6-3 Tuesday night (Tuesday afternoon in Italy) and into the women’s doubles quarterfinals of the Italian Open in Rome.
Both playing solidly either from the baseline or at the net, Gauff, 21, the reigning Australian Open women’s champion, and Eala, 19, continued to blend well at the Foro Italico Tennis Center, sending their opponents packing in just an hour and six minutes of play.
Their partnership will be tested to the hilt against the hometown and defending champion duo of Jasimine Paolini and Sara Errani, the No. 3 seeds, who were extended to an extra set before subduing the tandem of Canadian Leylah Fernandez and Russian Yulia Puntinseva 6-4, 4-6, 10-7 for a spot in the quarterfinals.
The tandems were scheduled to clash at 9:10 p.m. last night in a marquee matchup at the Grand Stand Arena of the facility located at the foothills of neighboring Monte Carlo.
While not as dominant as their opening doubles win, Eala and Gauff had three aces against none of their foes while getting most of their points on the first serve – 26 out of 33 – for a high 78.8 percent average in contrast to the 55.9 clip of their Italian rivals (19-34).
They also won 15 out of 34 points on the first return for a 44.1 percent norm while Grant and Pigato could only muster a 21.2 percent average (7-33).
Seeded fourth, Gauff is likewise still in contention in the women’s singles after overwhelming former 2021 US Open champion Emma Raducanu of the United Kingdom 6-1, 6-2 also last Tuesday to enter the round-of-16.
