Italian Open's naked statues grab the attention of Eugenie Bouchard, Coco Gauff and tennis world

Eugenie Bouchard and Coco Gauff were among the tennis players who reacted hilariously to the statues present at the Foro Italico in Rome, the venue for the ongoing Italian Open.

The sports complex has several statues, one of which is that of a nude man holding a tennis racket. A number of players found the funny side of the sculpture, with Eugenie Bouchard writing on her Instagram story:

"The first thing you see when you arrive and walk thru (through) the players' entrance."

Eugenie Bouchard's Instagram story on the statue in Foro italico

Coco Gauff shared an image of the statue on her Instagram story and wrote:

"GYATTTTT."

Coco Gauff's Instagram story

Tommy Paul also shared an image of the statue on his Instagram story.

Tommy Paul's Instagram story

Daria Kasatkina's girlfriend, figure skater Natalia Zabiiako, shared an image of herself in front of the statue on Twitter, with her caption reading:

"Ancient Roman tennis players are mentally strong as stones."

Eugenie Bouchard failed to qualify for the main draw of the Italian Open while Coco Gauff is seeded sixth

Eugenie Bouchard in action at the Madrid Open

Eugenie Bouchard lost her opening match in the Italian Open qualifiers 7-6(4), 6-3 against Dalma Galfi. The Canadian was coming off the back of a second-round exit at the Madrid Open.

Bouchard got past Sara Sorribes Tormo and Elizabeth Mandlik in the qualifiers of the tournament to book her place in the main draw. She reached the second round of the tournament after beating Dayana Yastremska, 6-7(6), 6-2, 6-2. Here, she lost 6-2, 7-5 to 18th seed Martina Trevisan. Bouchard has won two out of four main-draw matches so far during the 2023 season.

Coco Gauff is seeded sixth at the Italian Open and will take on either Yulia Putintseva or a qualifier in the second round. The American's last appearance on tour was a third-round exit at the Madrid Open, where she lost 6-3, 6-0 to Paula Badosa.

Gauff fared far better in the women's doubles, where she reached the final alongside Jessica Pegula before losing 6-1, 6-4 to Victoria Azarenka and Beatriz Haddad Maia.

The 19-year-old has 17 wins from 24 matches this season, including a title run at the ASB Classic in Auckland.