Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje are ready for the semi-finals in Malaysia after another victory
Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje managed to keep a cool head in the end when the Chinese couple came close. Photo: Hiro Komae/AP/Ritzau Scanpix
They are seeded to reach the final, and so far things are going really well for Denmark’s best mixed doubles, Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje, at the Super 500 tournament Malaysia Masters this week.
Friday morning Danish time, they played in the semi-finals by beating the fifth-seeded Chinese Guo Xinwa and Chen Fanghui 21-15, 21-18.
The Danish pair has had a somewhat troublesome spring due to Mathias Christiansen’s knee injury, which meant, among other things, that Alexandra Bøje had to play with another partner for the DM in February.
Therefore, the Malaysia Masters is also only their fourth on the World Tour in 2024, but for the time being it looks like they have got something right. In the 1st set, the Chinese were tied at 1-1. The Danes then led the rest of the set. And when they went from 12-10 to 18-12, the Chinese realized that the battle was initially lost.
Kept a cool head in the end
However, Guo and Chen were also much better in the 2nd set. Denmark’s lead of 7-3 was changed after a Chinese shoal to 11-7 in Asian favor – and temporary Danish crisis at the stop.
They impressively caught up with their opponents and equalized at 12-12, before Christiansen and Bøje pulled off an excellent shoal and went from 13-15 to 18-15. A couple of quick Chinese points gave renewed excitement, but the Danes kept their cool, won two match points and took advantage of number two.
In the semi-finals, they now meet the third-seeded Indonesians Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Mentari, whom they have met four times previously – with two wins each. The last match was in Switzerland last year, where the Danes lost a close two-setter.
Later today, Viktor Axelsen, Anders Antonsen and the two men’s doubles Anders Skaarup/Kim Astrup and Frederik Søgaard/Rasmus Kjær will be in action in their quarter-finals.
2024-05-24 05:49:46
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