Alex Eala of the Philippines and Coco Gauff of the United States. Al Bello, Getty Images/AFP and Thomas Coex, AFP
Filipina tennis star Alex Eala and Grand Slam champion Coco Gauff exited the Italian Open doubles in the quarterfinal stage, after a three-set loss to defending champions Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini of Italy on Wednesday.
Gauff and Eala pushed the Italian tandem to a decider before bowing out, 5-7, 6-3, 7-10.
Cheered on by the home crowd, Errani and Paolini recovered after a letdown in the second set and converted their second match point to advance to the semifinals, where they will play the Russian pair of Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider.
Despite the loss, it was a good showing for Eala and Gauff, who were playing together for the first time.
READ: Alex Eala, Coco Gauff sweep Italian pair, advance to q'finals in Rome
Earlier in the day, Gauff had beaten Andreeva in straight sets, 6-4, 7-6 (7/5), to advance to the semis of the women's singles tournament.
Former US Open winner Gauff said that she had "a lot of confidence" for the last four, where she could face tournament favorite Aryna Sabalenka with the world number one taking on Zheng Qinwen later on Wednesday.
"Maybe some points weren't my best. I still managed to be successful," said Gauff.
Gauff, 21, is looking for her first title of the season, ahead of Roland Garros starting later this month, after losing the Madrid final to Sabalenka.
Indian Wells champion Andreeva, at 18 years old the youngest woman to reach the last eight at the Foro Italico since Gauff in 2021, put up surprisingly little resistance in a low-key first set.
And Gauff had too much for her in the second, quickly responding to each of Andreeva's breaks of serve before coming through a tricky tie-break.
Gauff has already guaranteed a rise to No. 2 in the world rankings with her performance in Rome.
World No. 70 Eala, for her part, had bowed out at the first hurdle with a loss to Marta Kostyuk in the first round.-- with Agence France-Presse