Coco Gauff‘s Italian Open 2024 journey wasn’t bad altogether. Despite receiving criticism for a flawed playstyle on clay, this 20-year-old American WTA star bagged a surprising achievement in doubles. While Gauff’s regular doubles partner Jessica Pegula withdrew from Rome, she collaborated with New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe to keep the game going. Ranked third in doubles, Routliffe took a sly dig at the US Open champion’s former partner with their runner-up plate! If this duo reaches the finals, will they have to deliver two speeches like last year?

Partnering up for the first time, Routliffe and Gauff had a nerve-wracking match against Italy’s Sara Errani and Jasmine Paolini that lasted for 1 hour 28 minutes. Some criticism went Gauff’s way for her serve and double faults, but her partner doesn’t seem to be holding it against her. Routliffe shared her photo with Gauff holding their award on her official Instagram profile, “When @jpegula & @gabydabrowski are away, the girls will play 😝 Finalists in Rome 🥈🇮🇹 thanks for the fun @cocogauff 🫶”

It was obvious that she was humorously hitting at Gauff’s usual doubles partners, who couldn’t join the American due to injuries. Who knows if the All-American duo could have defeated the All-Italian duo? What we do know is that for first-timers, Routliffe and Gauff had more than a nice run reaching the finals, even if they didn’t bag the title. On Routliffe’s post, Dabrowski commented with clapping hand and heart emojis, seemingly bearing no ill will to the runners-up.

Gauff, who once spoke about prioritizing the Olympics and lowering her doubles participation after Paris, had won five doubles titles with Pegula in the US Open 2023, Canadian Open 2023, Miami Open 2023, San Diego Open 2022, and Qatar Open 2023. This iconic pair also reached the Wimbledon doubles finals last year. While fans expected this duo to unleash their magic in Rome, Pegula’s withdrawal dashed hopes of another victory.

However, last year after the Italian Open WTA-1000 Doubles Final, Gauff and Pegula were asked to give two speeches because they were not allowed to deliver a speech right after the Madrid Open. The duo had lost to Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia (6-1, 6-4) and surprisingly, even the winners did not give their speech.

On the other hand, this year, Erin Routliffe and Gaby Dabrowski are showing immense potential as partners after winning the US Open doubles last year. They also reached the Australian Open doubles tour semifinals showing. However, this Canadian tennis player also withdrew from Rome due to an injury, leaving Routliffe to partner with Gauff.

Playing with the reigning US Open champion, Routliffe defeated China’s Wang Xiyu and Yue Yuan in the round of 32. Then the duo took over Mirra Andreeva and Vera Zvonareva in the round of 16. Gauff and Routliffe also defeated Taylor Townsend and Katerina Siniakova in the quarterfinals and Zheng Saisai and Wang Xinyu in the semifinals. They showcased a great performance hinting at becoming the next big doubles partners.

But Routliffe’s earlier comments about her original partner highlight their friendship and future ambitions.

Erin Routliffe wished “to be the No. 1 team in the world” with Gaby Dabrowski

After winning the US Open doubles last year, Routliffe revealed her plans with partner Dabrowski in the future. “We want to be multiple-time Grand Slam winners and we want to be the No. 1 team in the world, I think we try to focus on how we get there, rather than the actual wins to get there. It’s more like a process of figuring out how we can achieve those things, but those are two things we both talk about and goals we have. We’re both at career-high rankings, so that’s a good step in the right direction. But I’m definitely looking forward to some success and switching from hard court to clay, that will be another adaptation” said the WTA star from New Zealand.

Gauff and Pegula have similar dreams of being at the top but their immediate goal is for the Paris Olympics. Will Pegula return or will Routliffe and Dabrowski outshine the Americans?

Erin Routliffe’s recent Instagram post with Coco Gauff represents the friendship among the WTA stars. While it brings out Gauff’s brilliance as both singles and doubles player, this post showcases how good partnerships can help players reach their goals.