Southeast Asian Duo Janice/Eala Advance to Abu Dhabi Open Semifinals

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesian Janice Tjen and Filipino Alexandra Eala reached the semifinals of the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open 2026 on Thursday night, February 5, 2026, after defeating the tournament’s second seeds in straight sets at the WTA 500 event.

Representing Southeast Asia, Janice Tjen and Alexandra Eala continued their impressive run at the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open 2026 by securing a semifinal berth with a convincing victory over higher-ranked opponents.

They booked their place in the semifinals of the tournament after overcoming second-seeded pair Zhang Shuai and Cristina Bucsa in straight sets on Thursday night local time, or early Friday morning, Jakarta time, Antara reported.

Playing at the International Tennis Centre, Zayed Sports City, Abu Dhabi, the Indonesia-Philippines pairing claimed a 6-3, 6-3 victory, according to WTA records.

Janice and Eala dominated the opening set with strong serving performances. WTA statistics showed they were also superior on returns, facing only one break point while converting three of their five break-point opportunities.

Their aggressive approach was evident in the ninth game of the first set, when Eala struck a clean winner at 30-0 to seal the set.

In the second set, Zhang and Bucsa attempted to respond, producing three aces to apply pressure. However, Janice and Eala held firm with consistent serving to neutralize the challenge from the China-Spain duo.

A forehand error from Bucsa that sailed long ended the ninth game of the second set, handing Janice and Eala the match after one hour and six minutes of play.

Both players also competed in the singles draw. Janice was eliminated in the second round after losing to fifth seed Liudmila Samsonova.

Eala progressed further, reaching the quarterfinals, before the 2025 SEA Games women’s singles gold medalist was stopped by second seed Ekaterina Alexandrova in the last eight.

In the doubles semifinals, the duo, nicknamed “SEAster”, will face fourth seeds Tereza Mihalikova and Olivia Nicholls, who edged past Irina Khromacheva and Andreja Klepac in a closely contested match, 5-7, 7-6(5), 10-8.

The semifinal match between the Southeast Asian pair and the Slovakia-Great Britain duo is scheduled for Friday, February 6, at 7 p.m. Jakarta time. ***