THE Filipino-American tandem of Alex Eala and Coco Gauff gave it their all but eventually fell in the quarterfinal round of the 2025 Italian Open early Thursday (Philippine time), May 15.

The Eala-Gauff duo gave defending champions Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini a huge scare before enduring a 5-7, 6-3, 7-10 loss in the one hour, 36-minute duel.

After a tight loss in the first set, Eala and Gauff fought back to win the second set and dragged the defending champions to a thrilling match in the final set.

It was 4-all when Errani and Paolini flashed their championship pedigree, taking a 7-6 lead and never looked back.

With the tight victory, Errani and Paolini, who are also the reigning Olympic champions, advanced to the semifinal round against sixth seed Mirra Andreeva and Diana Shnaider.

Andreeva and Shnaider secured their own semis seat by upsetting top seed Gabriela Dabrowski and Erin Routliffe, 6-2, 4-6, 11-9.

Eala ended her stint in the tournament empty handed as she also faltered in singles. The quarterfinal stint assured Eala and Gauff of 43,560 euros (around P2.7 million).(CCM)

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• #Alex Eala
• #Coco Gauff
• #2025 Italian Open
• #Sara Errani
• #Jasmine Paolini