Janice Tjen and Alex Eala Duet at the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open 2026

Indonesian women's tennis player Janice Tjen reacts during the first round match of the Australian Open against Canadian tennis player Leylah Fernandez at Melbourne Park, Tuesday (20/1/2026). (WTA)

JAKARTA - Two young Southeast Asian tennis players who are stealing the spotlight, Janice Tjen and Alex Eala, will duet at the 2026 Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open which will be held on February 1-7.

Opening the WTA 500 tournament, the Indonesian-Filipino pair immediately faced a tough challenge by meeting the Canadian-French duo, Leylah Fernandez and Kristina Mladenovic, in the first round.

Janice has a record of the latest meeting with Leylah after the two met in the opening round of the Australian Open. In the match, the Jakarta-born player came out as the winner through a straight two-set victory.

However, Janice's move in the Australian Open singles was stopped in the second round after being defeated by former world number one Karolina Pliskova. In the doubles sector, Janice who was paired with Polish tennis player Katarzyna Piter also had to be eliminated early after losing to the host pair.

At the Abu Dhabi Open, Janice, who received a wildcard, is scheduled to face Australian player Maya Joint in the singles match. Meanwhile, Alex Eala will meet Turkish player Zeynep Sonmez, who also entered the tournament through a wildcard.

Previously, Eala also had not achieved the maximum result at the Australian Open. The 20-year-old tennis player was eliminated in the first round of singles after losing three sets to the United States representative, Alycia Parks.

In the doubles, Eala who paired with Brazilian tennis player Ingrid Martins was unable to get past the opening match after being defeated by the Polish-Japanese pair, Magda Linette and Shuko Aoyama.

Even though they are now paired, Janice and Eala are known as strong rivals. Their last meeting was at the Sao Paolo Open in Brazil last September. In the quarterfinal match of the WTA 250 tournament, Janice came out as the winner through two straight sets.

The two also strengthened their respective countries at the 2025 Thailand SEA Games in December. Janice had to end her fight in the semifinals due to health problems and won a bronze medal, while Eala successfully brought home the gold medal.

Janice and Eala are scheduled to play the opening matches in singles and doubles at the WTA 500 Abu Dhabi Open, Monday (2/2).