Tenny Madis and Stefi Aludo overcame a second-set fightback from Indonesia’s Anjali Junarto and Meydiana Reinnamah to advance to the women’s doubles Round of 16 at the 20th Asian Games.
The Filipina pair secured a 6-3, 7-6 (4) victory on Monday, building on a strong start before holding their nerve in a tightly contested second set.
Madis and Aludo dictated the opening set and quickly established control to take a 6-3 advantage. They carried that momentum into the second set, taking a 3-1 lead, but Junarto and Reinnamah responded with four consecutive games to move ahead, 5-3.
Rather than allowing the match to slip away, the Filipinas adjusted their approach and fought back to force a tiebreak, where they closed out the victory, 7-4.
“Second set po, di kami nagbago, which is sila po yung parang madami po silang bola na pinapasok rather than the first set… Kasi mas madami silang bola na papasok, kasi parang naka-adjust na sila,” Aludo said.
“So [for] us po, we have to like do our strategies like iba kasi yan na parang ano na talaga, parang pumapasok na and then may shots na din sila. So kami, yung strategy namin is like yung doing, lobbing nalang talaga and then pasok sa net, then make and point po.”
The win also gave Madis a much-needed lift after her elimination from the women’s singles competition the previous night.
“Iba po talaga yung feeling pag panalo. At sobrang grateful po namin kasi ibang level na ‘to para sa amin,” said the M’lang, North Cotabato native.
Filipina tennis star Alex Eala was also in the stands to support Madis and Aludo, providing encouragement as the Indonesian pair mounted its second-set comeback.
“Iba po talaga yung support pag nandiyan si Alex. At lahat ng mga team namin, nandoon sa amin tapos na-cheer, iba po yung feeling tapos mas parang iba yung energy na yung support,” Madis said.
The Filipinas credited their communication and familiarity with each other for helping them weather the Indonesian surge.
“Yung inisip na namin is like hit it all-out na lang po talaga. Kasi wala na po kaming magagawa. Kasi yun na, yun na talaga yun. So kailangan na po naming ipalo lahat yung pinag-practice namin,” Aludo said.
“Always naming sinasabi sa sarili namin na lalaban kami. And then yung mga strategy namin, kailangan talaga naming gamitin. And yung communication din po talaga yung keep-up ng panalo namin,” she added.
Madis and Aludo now turn their attention to a tougher Round of 16 assignment against No. 5 seeds Hao-ching Chan and Fang-hsien Wu of Chinese Taipei.
Madis said the pair will draw from the lessons of their opening match while focusing on maintaining their composure.
“Siguro gawin po namin sa next match namin is yung gagamitin namin yung experience namin na experience namin sa laro ngayon. And more, siguro more on composure. Dapat po lang negative thoughts po talaga sa ‘pag nandiyan ka sa on-court,” she said.
