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Manila Bulletin devider Sports devider 'SEA-sters' Eala, Tjen bow out of contention in Abu Dhabi Open

'SEA-sters' Eala, Tjen bow out of contention in Abu Dhabi Open

Published Feb 7, 2026 09:36 am

At A Glance

  • Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala and Indonesia's Janice Tjen came up short against Slovakia's Tereza Mihalíková and Great Britain's Olivia Nicholls, 4-6, 2-6, in the doubles semifinals of the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open in the UAE Friday, Feb. 6.
(Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open)
(Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open)
Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala and Indonesia’s Janice Tjen came up short against Slovakia’s Tereza Mihalíková and Great Britain’s Olivia Nicholls, 4-6, 2-6, in the doubles semifinals of the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open in the UAE Friday, Feb. 6.
Fresh off a quick work in the quarters, Eala and Tjen went all out in the first set where they went toe-to-toe with Mihalíková and Nicholls who eventually shifted to a higher gear and broke a 4-4 deadlock by securing the next two games.
From that sequence, the Southeast Asian netters tapped into their reserves but the veteran Slovakian-British duo already found the answers as they forced the youthful opponents to several errors to build a 4-1 breakaway that anchored them to their semis victory.
No. 4 seed Mihalíková and Nicholls earned their title shot and will challenge either American Sofia Kenin and Australian Maya Joint or US’ Desirae Krawczyk and Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, who are vying for the last finals ticket.
Eala and Tjen, on the other hand, exit the competition after also being eliminated in the singles with the former as the latest off a 3-6, 3-6 quarters loss to Alexandrova.
Tjen, for her part, stumbled to Russian Liudmila Samsonova, 2-6, 2-6, in the Last 16.
Dubbed as the “SEA-sters”, Eala and Tjen opened their doubles run with a 7-5, 3-6, 10-6 escape over Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and France’s Kristina Mladenovic in Round of 16.
They followed it up in the quarters where they bested No. 2 seed Spaniard Cristina Bucșa and Chinese Shuai Zhang, 6-3, 6-3.
Both Eala and Tjen are expected to resume their Middle East swing as they plunge into action in two WTA 1000 events.
These would be the Qatar Open in Doha slated Feb. 8 to 14, and the Dubai Tennis Championships starting from Feb. 15 to 21.
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