Coco Gauff hasn't played a lot of doubles recently, but it seems that the young American has an intention to start playing more again.
Gauff is one of the most talented doubles players on the WTA Tour. She reached the World No. 1 rank and even won a Grand Slam in doubles. But despite her success in doubles, Gauff made the decision to focus only on singles after the 2024 Paris Olympics.
In fact, she made the decision to focus on singles much earlier, as leading up to the Olympics, she often spoke about how she and Jessica Pegula would stop playing together after the Olympic Games.
Nine months later, the 21-year-old American appeared on the doubles court again. She played with compatriot Robin Montgomery in Madrid, and the two reached the quarter-finals, losing only to Ashlyn Krueger and Victoria Azarenka.
After playing in Madrid, Gauff signed up for the doubles tournament in Rome, and her partner for the WTA 1000 tournament in the Italian capital is very surprising.
Gauff chose to play with Alexandra Eala, who is a 19-year-old talented player from the Philippines. Eala is already out of the singles competition after she lost 0-6, 1-6 to Marta Kostyuk.
For now, it's not clear why Gauff chose to play with Eala, as seemingly, there is no connection between the two. However, both Montgomery, with whom she teamed up in Madrid, and Eala are younger players than Gauff.
The 2023 US Open champion used to be one of the youngest players on the WTA Tour for a large part of her career, and maybe this is the way that she wants to help younger players get through the ranks.
During her press conference ahead of the tournament, Gauff didn't talk about her partnership with Eala, but she talked about her faith and also why she loves to spend time in Europe.
"I think just trying to do things like movies. Both my parents were in Madrid, so that helped. I think for me it's just connecting with people. I do a lot better in Europe than most Americans. I don't find it like such a drag as some of us think (smiling)."
"Honestly I prefer, it's a more fun way when you're playing than when you're losing and waiting around. I feel like that's where I get most motivation, is to stay deep in these tournaments so I'm not, like, stuck waiting around doing nothing."
Gauff and Eala will start their doubles tournament against Fanny Stollar and Alexandra Panova. Should this new-formed duo succeed, they could take on the seventh-seeded team of Anna Danilina and Irina Khromacheva, or the home wild cards Tyra Caterina Grant and Lisa Pigato.
Popular News
Just In
