Alex Eala teams up with Coco Gauff, the world’s top-earning female athlete 

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The Alex Eala-Coco Gauff tandem in the Italian Open doubles will be a team-up between one of the rising names in the tennis circuit and one of the most established athletes in the world

MANILA, Philippines – Alex Eala’s singles campaign in the Italian Open may have ended rather abruptly, but she holds a shot at redemption, and no less than one of the world’s most prominent athletes will be by her side. 

Eala’s journey in the WTA 1000 Internazionali BNL d’Italia continues when she partners with American Coco Gauff, the world No. 3 tennis star who’s also the highest paid female athlete the past years. 

First-time partners, Eala and Gauff will take on Alexandra Panova of Russia and Fanny Stollar of Hungary  on Friday, May 9, in the opening round of the doubles competition of the Italian Open.

The Eala-Gauff tandem will be a team-up between one of the new names gaining recognition in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour and one of the most established athletes in the world. 

Gauff was the highest-earning female athlete in all of sports for two straight years (2023 and 2024). She received over $30.4 million last year from prize money and endorsements. 

The 2023 US Open champion currently ranks third in the world in singles. She emerged champion at the yearend WTA Tour finals in 2024 and finished runner-up to world No. 2 Iga Swiatek of Poland in the 2022 French Open. 

But it is not only in singles that the 21-year-old American has excelled in. 

Gauff is the former world No. 1 in doubles, a feat she accomplished in 2022. She joined forces with current world doubles No. 1 Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic to win the 2024 French Open doubles title. 

Although she has slipped to 22nd in the doubles world ranking this year largely due to inactivity, she still reached the quarterfinals with compatriot Robin Montgomery in the WTA 1000 Mutua Madrid Open — the lone doubles event she joined this year before the Italian Open. 

Eala, though just 456th in the world doubles ranking, is herself an underrated doubles player. 

The 19-year-old Filipina won her first junior doubles Grand Slam, the Australian Open in 2020 when she was just 14 years old. 

Then the following year, Eala and Oksana Selekhmeteva of Russia emerged champions of the girls doubles event of the French Open. 

The 5-foot-9 Eala last competed in doubles in the WTA 125 Oeiras in Portugal last April where she and Katie Volynets of the United States were eliminated in the opening round.

In 2024, Eala bagged two doubles titles in the pro tour with French partner Estelle Cascino. The pair won the ITF W75 2024 Open de Seine-et-Marne in France in March, then clinched the ITF W100 Vitoria-Gasteiz in Spain in July.

Eala and Gauff will expect a stiff challenge from Panova and Stollar who both compete exclusively in doubles in the WTA Tour. 

The Russian and Hungarian duo also have the advantage in chemistry against Eala and Gauff, who are playing together for the first time. 

Panova, ranked 26th in the world, and Stollar, ranked 50th, have partnered four times already in 2025. 

The winner of their Friday encounter will advance to the second round against the victor of the opening round tussle between seventh seeds Anna Danilina of Kazakhstan and Irina Khromacheva of Russia versus wildcard local bets Tyra Grant and Lisa Pigato of Italy. – Rappler.com