Even without Alex Eala, the Philippine Women’s Open finals at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex are shaping up to be a sure-fire blockbuster.
That is because the tournament’s two most popular foreign players — Donna Vekic and Camila Osorio — have set up a highly-anticipated showdown for the title in Saturday’s finals.
Fourth seed Vekic of Croatia posted a dominant 6-2, 6-4 victory over Russia’s Tatiana Prozorova. Meanwhile, fifth seed Osorio of Colombia was even more impressive, cruising to a surprisingly easy 6-0, 6-1 win over third seed Solana Sierra of Argentina in Friday’s semifinals.
The former world No. 17 Vekic broke away from a 1-1 tie in the opening set, breaking Prozorova twice to race to a 5-1 lead before sealing the set in just 32 minutes.
The 29-year-old Croatian maintained her fine form in the second set, building a 4-2 advantage. Prozorova, who stunned top seed Tatjana Maria in the second round, showed late resistance and closed the gap to 5-4.
But Vekic would not be denied, finishing off the 22-year-old Russian in the 10th game to book her first finals appearance since the Paris Olympics in August 2024, where she settled for a silver medal.
Currently ranked No. 72 in the world, the Croatian, who met her opponent once before and beat her in the 2022 Midwestern Southern Openqualifiers, winning 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, acknowledged that Osorio (No. 84) would be a “tough match.”
“She has obviously been playing pretty well. Both of us have a good chance (of winning). So I will have to come up with a good game plan with my coach,” said Vekic.
She disclosed what she needed to do in winning her fifth WTA title since ruling the Monterrey Open, a WTA 250 meet, in Monterrey, Mexico in 2023.
“I need another good performance and a little bit of luck, to focus on recovery tonight and be ready for tomorrow,” the Paris Olympic Games silver medalist said, adding that “my serve has been very good the whole week.”
(C) PHILTA
Osorio, meanwhile, was merciless. The 24-year-old Colombian, who eliminated Eala in Thursday’s quarterfinals, needed just 20 minutes to blank Argentina’s top-ranked player in the opening set.
The former world junior No. 1 and 2019 US Open girls’ champion continued her onslaught in the second set, surging to a 5-0 lead and threatening a double bagel against world No. 63 Sierra.
The Argentine managed to claim the sixth game to get on the board, but that was merely a brief reprieve as Osorio wrapped up the match in the seventh game. The entire semifinal lasted just 46 minutes.
“It is going to be for sure a challenge. l know that she (Vekic) is a very aggressive player.She likes to be on top of the ball every single time so I have to be ready for that and try to be physical with her,” noted Osorio.
