Eala, Tjen get boot in Abu Dhabi Open semis
MANILA, Philippines -- The partnership of rising Southeast Asian tennisters Alex Eala and Janice Tjen has ended in the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open.
Eala and Tjen bowed out of the WTA 500 tournament’s doubles’ semifinals after getting bounced by Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls, 4-6, 2-6, Friday evening (Manila time).
The Filipino and Indonesian tennis stars absorbed the loss in an hour and 16 minutes, as the fourth-seeded pair of Mihalikova and Nicholls was formidable.
The first set was close, with Eala and Tjen tying things up at 4-all.
But Mihalikova and Nicholls held their serve, then broke their opponent’s, to grab the first set, 6-4.
They carried the momentum to the second service, going up 3-0, which proved to be insurmountable for the younger pair.
While the Southeast Asian players punched in two aces, they were only able to win 18 receiving points compared to their opponent’s 21.
They also won 30 service points against the Slovakian-British duo’s 36.
Before being shown the door, the Eala-Tjen duo defeated Leylah Fernandez and Kristina Mladenovic in the first round, followed by a huge upset win over Zhang Shuai and Cristina Bucsa.
Eala, ranked World No. 45 in singles’ action, also exited the same WTA 500 tourney’s one-on-one edition after getting dominated by World No. 11 Ekaterina Alexandrova in the quarterfinals.
The Filipina will now set her sights to the Qatar Totalenergies Open, which will kick off on February 8.
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