Emotions can run high in a crucial match, especially in a doubles contest, and especially when you’re in a partnership on and off the court.

Throw Denmark’s Mathias Christiansen and Alexandra Bøje into the mix.

All it took was a few words of motivation from partner Bøje in their YONEX-SUNRISE India Open 2026 semifinal against world No.2 pair Jiang Zhen Bang and Wei Ya Xin of China that sparked new life into the match after they dropped the first game.

“Basically, Alex told me that I wasn’t playing well enough,” Christiansen said with a laugh after the match. “And I think she was right.”

They needed to turn it around quickly as Bøje said the match would have ended rather quickly going by the start their opponents had in the game.

“We just tried to find some solutions because we knew if we if we played like that in the first game, then we would get hammered in the second as well,” Bøje said after they duly saluted 16-21 21-14 21-14.

“Playing these finals are huge for us, and it’s something that we don’t do that often,” Christiansen added. “We will try to enjoy it and, of course, give it our best.”

→ Results (Day 5)

→ Order of Play (Day 6)

WHAT OTHERS SAID

“They are really strong in their attacking game, so we focused on how to prevent them from doing that, and also how we could endure the rallies even if they did attack, and we approached the match with a carefully thought-out strategy.” – Mayu Matsumoto after she and Yuki Fukushima defeated Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan in the semifinal of the women’s doubles.

“I’ll regret that for a while. But also the last point, I think I read his net pretty well, and then I also missed the brush. So also a little bit unfortunate, a little bit regretful, the last two points. But yeah, the fans today were amazing, and they kept me through the game.” – Victor Lai on his defeat in the semifinal to Lin Chun Yi of Chinese Taipei.

“I tried to be patient and not rush the rallies. I focused on controlling the tempo and choosing the right moments to attack. Physically it was demanding, but I felt prepared. Mentally, I kept reminding myself to stay calm and play point by point.” – Jonatan Christie after he won his men’s singles semifinal against Loh Kean Yew of Singapore.