Alex Eala, Janice Tjen advance to Abu Dhabi Open doubles semis

February 6 ------ The Philippines' Alex Eala and Indonesia's Janice Tjen advanced to the semifinals of the Abu Dhabi Open doubles after beating the second-seed tandem of Zhang Shuai and Cristina Bucsa, 6-3 6-4. Eala, ranked No. 45 by the WTA, is teaming up for the first time with Tjen, who is at No. 47.

Eala and Tjen earlier made a winning start in the Abu Dhabi tournament, claiming a dramatic 7-5, 3-6, 10-6 triumph over Leylah Fernandez and Kristina Mladenovic on Court 1, early Wednesday. The Southeast Asian pair will next face the fourth-seeded team of Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls in the semi finals Friday, 8 p.m.

Editor's note

Alex Eala’s impressive singles campaign at the Abu Dhabi Open came to an end after a hard-fought quarterfinals loss to second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova, with the world No. 11 Russian advancing following a straight-sets victory. Alexandrova triumphed 6-3, 6-3. The match opened at a blistering pace as the first game alone stretched to four deuces before Alexandrova finally held serve for a 1-0 lead. The 31-year-old Russian, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 10 in October 2025, immediately asserted her power from the baseline, threatening to pull away early. Eala nearly found herself down 0-3, but the Filipina showed resilience, finding her range and breaking serve to trail just 1-2. Energized by the crowd, Eala displayed superb court coverage to counter whenever possible. Still, Alexandrova’s consistency and depth proved decisive as she maintained control to lead 4-2.

The rallies intensified midway through the set, with both players trading thunderous shots from the baseline. Eala earned two break points at 15-40, but Alexandrova rose to the occasion, producing clutch points to escape danger before closing out the opening set, 6-3. Alexandrova carried that momentum into the second set, continuing to strike the ball cleanly and with authority to build a 3-1 advantage. Eala refused to give away easy points, but the Russian’s power game kept her narrowly ahead at 4-3 as the set progressed and came to an end, 6-3.

Source: news.abs-cbn.com