An unexpected Southeast Asian partnership between Alex Eala and Janice Tjen continued an impressive run at the Abu Dhabi Open, with the duo advancing to the women’s doubles semi-finals.
The Filipino-Indonesian pairing overcame Cristina Bucsa and Zhang Shuai 6-3, 6-3 on Thursday at the Zayed Sports City International Tennis Centre.
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Despite playing together for the first time, they showed their opening-round victory over a Canadian-French duo of Leylah Fernandez and Kristina Mladenovic was no fluke, backing it up with another composed performance.
Also involved in the women’s singles draw in Abu Dhabi, Tjen’s run came to an end in the Round of 16, while Eala went one round further.
The Southeast Asian pair next face fourth seeds Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls in Friday’s semi-finals.
In the other women’s doubles semi-final match, Sofia Kenin and Desirae Krawczyk take on Ekaterina Alexandrova and Maya Joint.
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