Eala, Baptiste exit Italian Open doubles, losing to top 2 players

Alex Eala and Hailey Baptiste tried to extend their stay at the Italian Open but immediately ran into a tough assignment that stopped them in their tracks.

The pair lost in straight sets in the first round on Tuesday, May 12, to Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic and Taylor Townsend. Siniakova is the top-ranked doubles player in the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA), and Townsend is ranked second.

Eala and Baptiste lost the match in in one hour and nine minutes, 2-6, 1-6.

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Tough assignment for Eala, Baptiste at Italian Open

Siniakova and Townsend converted five of 11 break point opportunities in the match.

While Eala and Baptiste had four chances to score a break point, they couldn’t convert any against the higher-ranked pair, who previously won the Madrid, Miami, and Indian Wells doubles titles this year.

Siniakova has 36 doubles titles to her name, including the 2025, 2023, and 2022 Australian Open and the 2024 Wimbledon and French Open championships.

Both Eala and Baptiste ended their singles campaigns in Rome in the round of 32, losing in straight sets to Elena Rybakina and Elina Svitolina, respectively.

READ ALSO: Elena Rybakina stops Alex Eala’s Italian Open campaign in straight sets

Rybakina, currently WTA No. 2, and Svitolina, currently No. 7, will face each other in the quarterfinals.

Sorana Cirstea’s final Italian Open campaign

Whoever wins will then advance to a semifinal match against either Jessica Pegula (No. 5) or Iga Swiatek (No. 3).

Only world No. 1 Aryna Sabalenka is missing from the top 5 in the quarterfinal round. She lost in the third round to Romania’s Sorana Cirstea.

At 36, Cirstea has announced she will retire at the end of 2026. But first, she will meet Jelena Ostapenko in the quarterfinals of the Italian Open this week.

Baptiste, 24, and currently ranked No. 25 in singles is a strong choice for a doubles partner. She won her first doubles title in 2021, the Charleston 250, just two years after making her debut in the main draw of a WTA event.

She won that title with Caty McNally, another American, who is playing doubles in Rome this year with Coco Gauff. Eala and Gauff reached the quarterfinals in the Italian Open women’s doubles tournament last year.

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