Doubles partners, singles opponents: Chinese players have faced this unusual situation for two consecutive weeks.

Often, a player competes in both singles and doubles events during tennis tournaments. This means that occasionally, these players inevitably meet their doubles partners as opponents on the singles court. In the past two weeks, two Chinese players have experienced this situation. So, who exactly are these two Chinese players? Who are their doubles partners? And in which tournaments did they face off against their doubles partners in singles matches? Today, this article will take you through the details.

Last season, Milan reached the final of the Monastir Challenger at the end of August. Unfortunately, despite a tough three-set battle in the final, she lost to the tournament’s third seed, Serbian player E. Milovanovic, finishing as runner-up. After that, Milan did not make it to the Challenger quarterfinals for a long time. In late December, she entered the Monastir Challenger in Tunisia as the fifth seed.

In the first round, Milan delivered a dominant performance, defeating British player M. Wainwright comfortably to advance; in the second round, she won in straight sets against Egyptian player J. Hossam Salah, reaching the Challenger quarterfinals for the first time in over four months; in the quarterfinals, Milan maintained her strong form and swept Japanese qualifier R. Wakana to reach the semifinals; her opponent there was the top seed, Greek player Saklariti.

Saklariti is Milan’s doubles partner. Before teaming up with Saklariti, Milan had never reached a doubles final. Since they started playing together in December, they have achieved eight consecutive wins and won back-to-back Challenger women’s doubles titles over two weeks. Partners on the doubles court, rivals on the singles court. In the semifinal match, Saklariti showed no mercy, defeating Milan 6-3, 6-3 to advance to the final. Although Milan was defeated in singles, the pair remained dominant in doubles, extending their winning streak to twelve matches and capturing their third doubles title together. After beating Milan, Saklariti came from behind to defeat Swiss player C. Fontenel in the final and claim the championship.

Last week, Chinese player Tian Jialin entered the Monastir Challenger as the tournament’s third seed. She started by comfortably defeating Japanese player Nishimoto Seira in the first round; in the second round, Tian delivered an outstanding performance against French player S. Rakki, allowing her opponent to win only one game and advancing to the quarterfinals. This was Tian’s first time reaching the Challenger quarterfinals in the 2026 season; in the quarterfinals, Tian faced the fifth seed, Egyptian player Y. Ezzat.

Like Milan, Y. Ezzat is also Tian Jialin’s doubles partner, and they paired up for the first time in 2026. In this match, Y. Ezzat defeated Tian convincingly with a 6-2, 6-2 scoreline to reach the semifinals. After losing in singles, Tian also fell short in doubles, as she and Ezzat were defeated in the semifinals by the top-seeded Japanese duo, Kitahara Yuno and Sema Eirika. Following her victory over Tian, Ezzat was then swept in straight sets by German player J. Silva in the semifinals, halting her progress as well. That’s today’s tennis story; more to come tomorrow.(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Yixin Jushi)