By MARK REY MONTEJO
Almost running on fumes but not in resolve, Alex Eala put on another command performance in front of her boisterous fans as she and Indonesian partner Janice Tjen romped to a 6-3, 6-3 win over Spaniard Cristina Bucșa and Chinese Shuai Zhang to reach the doubles semifinals of the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open in the UAE early Friday, Feb. 6.
And just like the other day, their win generated a football-like atmosphere after the duo displayed pure grit especially Eala who endured a grueling day after playing in the singles quarterfinal early in the day.
Eala suffered a 3-6, 3-6 loss to Russian Ekaterina Alexandrova, but that failed to dampen her spirit as she hit the ball with more ferocity much to the delight of the overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who spent their hard-earned savings just to see and support their idol – Tien included.
Eala and Tjen arranged a semis meeting with Slovakian Tereza Mihalíková and British Olivia Nicholls, who edged out Russian Irina Khromacheva and Slovenian Andreja Klepač, 7-5, 6-7(7), 10-8.
“Hi everyone. We just won our quarterfinals match today, and don’t forget to come and support us,” said Tjen to their supporters.
“Super happy, thank you everybody,” Eala added.
Their semis duel is set later Friday, Feb. 6, which will be later followed by another doubles action between American Sofia Kenin and Australian Maya Joint against US’ Desirae Krawczyk and Alexandrova.
Meaning, a potential rematch looms for Eala and Alexandrova, who beat the Filipina ace to forge a singles semis encounter with American Hailey Baptiste.
Boosted by their 7-5, 3-6, 10-6 escape over Canada’s Leylah Fernandez and France’s Kristina Mladenovic, Eala and Tjen immediately made a statement, racing to a 3-0 lead in the first set.
Though Bucșa and Zhang stayed within striking distance at 3-4, the Southeast Asian duo regained their rhythm, halting the Spanish-Chinese pair’s rally and reclaiming the advantage.
Their momentum carried into the second set, where they stormed to another 3-0 cushion set the tone, which they maintained despite a late surge from their opponents.
