By Glenys FurnessOlivia Nicholls runner up in Abu DhabiThe Brit was fourth seedABU DHABI, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES – Olivia Nicholls and Tereza Mihalikova were the fourth seeds and were runners up in the WTA 500 event.

 

 

Olivia Nicholls and Tereza Mihalikova entered the WTA event and were the fourth seeds. In the first round the Brit/Slovakian were against Darija Jurak Schreiber & Katarzyna Piter. The seeds found Jurak Schreiber & Piter strong, as they stayed with the Brit/Slovak in the first set. Eventually, Nicholls & Mihalikova broke serve and took the lead. The second set was a little easier for the seeds, who broke early and moved into the next round in straight sets 7-5, 6-3.

The quarter-final saw the seeds against unseeded pair Irina Khromacheva & Andreja Klepac. The lower ranked pair played well and broke the serve of Nicholls & Mihalikova taking the lead. The second set was also very close. The seeds managed to force a tiebreak, which they edged and levelled up the match. The ensuing match tiebreak saw the seeds edge through and move into the next round 5-7, 7-6(5), 10-8.

In the semi-final Nicholls & Mihalikova were against Alexandra Eala & Janice Tjen. The Brit/Slovak battled hard in the first set and broke serve to take the lead. Eala & Tjen could not get back on serve and the seeds claimed the first set. The second set saw the seeds dominate and move into the next round 6-4, 6-2.

The final saw the Brit/Slovak against Ekaterina Alexandrova & Maya Joint. The seeds broke early in the first set and took the lead. The second set was much closer as Alexandrova & Joint stayed with Nicholls & Mihalikova. The un seeded pair forced a tiebreak. In the breaker it was Alexandrova & Joint who edged through, levelling up the match. In the ensuing match tiebreak the Brit/Slovak kept pace with the unseeded pair. However, eventually, Alexandrova & Joint edged through and took the match 3-6, 7-6(5), 10-8.

 

 

Doubles Round Up

Joshua Paris & Marcus Willis were defeated by Constantin Frantzen & Robin Haase in the quarter-final in Montpellier 6-3, 7-6(5).

Emily Appleton with Makoto Ninomiya were defeated by Lucie Havlickova & Dominika Salkova in the first round in Ostrava 7-6(6), 6-4.

Maia Lumsden with Isabelle Haverlag were defeated by Quinn Gleason & Anna Siskova in the quarter-final in Ostrava 6-4, 1-6, 10-8.

Alicia Barnett with Elixane Lechemia were defeated by Anastasia Detiuc & Sabrina Santamaria in the quarter-final in Ostrava 6-4, 7-6(5).

Madeleine Brooks with Shuo Feng were defeated by Anastasia Detiuc & Sabrina Santamaria in the semi-final in Ostrava 6-3, 1-6, 10-8.

Charles Broom with David Poljak were defeated by Jarno Jans & Niels Visker in the semi-final in Cesenatico 5-7, 6-3, 10-6.

Mark Whitehouse with Jan Jermar were defeated by Tim Ruehl & Patrick Zahraj in the first round in Koblenz 3-6, 6-3, 10-8.

Charles Dossetter with Niklas Grunewald were defeated by Tomasz Berkieta & Christopher Papa in the first round in M25 Monastir 6-3, 6-4.

Ewen Lumsden with Anthony Genov were defeated by Tomasz Berkieta & Christopher Papa in the final in M25 Monastir 7-6(5), 7-5.

Louis Allen with Ahmed Mouhan were defeated by Jonas Eriksson Ziverts & Jared Horwood in the first round in M15 Monastir 6-1, 6-2.

Thomas Drayton & Ali Habib were defeated by Manas Dhamne & Rocco Piatti in the first round in Zahra 6-2, 6-4.

Jeremy Gschwendtner with Federico Valle were defeated by Ivan Lopez Martos & Imanol Lopez Morillo in the quarter-final in Javea 5-7, 6-4, 10-1.

Stefan Cooper with Jesus Martinez Miranda were defeated by Alafia Ayeni & Andres Urrea in the quarter-final in Huamantla 7-6(6), 6-3.

Sean Drewry & Samuel Rayner were defeated by Rares Teodor Pieleanu & Arturs Zagars in the first round in Sharm-El-Sheikh 6-1, 7-5.

Next Week Brits play in Rotterdam, Dallas, Tenerife, Chennai, Portugal, Tunisia, Germany, Spain, USA, Egypt, Doha, Oeiras, India, Czech Republic & France.