Eala, Tjen enter semis in Abu Dhabi Open doubles
MANILA, Philippines -- Rising Southeast Asian tennisters, indeed.
The duo of Filipino Alex Eala and Indonesian Janice Tjen barged into the semifinal round of the Mabudala Abu Dhabi Open doubles’ tournament after sweeping the second-seeded pair of Zhang Shuai and Christina Bucsa, 6-3, 6-3, early Friday morning (Manila time).
Eala, who exited the singles’ action a few hours before, will go deeper in the doubles’ action.
The two were simply dominant right from the get-go, going up 3-0 in the first set before their opponents cut the deficit to just a game, 3-4.
But Eala and Tjen closed out the frame with wins in the eighth and ninth games, 6-3.
It was more of the same in the second set, as the winning team jumped to a 3-0 lead.
Zhang and Bucsa were able to make it a one game difference anew, 2-3, but the Southeast Asian duo won three of the next four games to grab the victory.
They will now be taking on the fourth-seeded pair of Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls in the semifinals.
Mihalikova is currently ranked 24th in the world in doubles while Nicholls is World No. 26.
The winner between the two will head to the finals, where they will face either the pair of Sofia Kenin and Desirae Krawczyk, or Eala and Tjen’s singles’ tormentors Ekaterina Alexandrova and Maya Joint.
- Latest
- Trending
