By MARK REY MONTEJO
Camila Osorio dug deep into her bag of tricks and turned back Donna Vekic, 2-6, 6-3, 7-5, to become the first-ever champion of the WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open at the jam-packed Rizal Memorial Tennis Center on Saturday, Jan. 31.
The fifth-seeded Colombian outplayed her more experienced, fourth-seeded Croatian rival especially in the second set where she produced wondrous shots and forced a decider in their 2-hour and 31-minute title showdown.
From there, Osorio held her ground and didn’t let a lucky break in the 10th game of the third to be replicated by Vekic after she pushed the Croatian bet to squander a 4-3 (40-15) in the eighth and shifted the momentum.
Apart from capturing her only WTA Challenger title, Osorio, 24, also reigned supreme for the first time outside of Colombia after winning her three Tour crowns — all came from WTA 250 Copa Colsanitas.
“I don’t have any words right now, but I’m super happy and it’s such an honor to play here,” said Osorio, who eliminated hometown bet Alex Eala in the quarters, 6-4, 6-4.
“Thank you to all the people who made this tournament possible , I hope to come back in the future,” she added.
The title was worth $15,500 for the WTA No. 84 aside from her points she will gain in the competition. Vekic, world’s No. 72, settled for $8,400 (roughly P500,000).
“First of all, thank you so much for your support and I appreciate it, congratulations to Camila for the exciting match today, wishing her all the best,” said Vekic.
“It’s the first WTA in the PH, I see how people enjoy it, I hope to comeback, I don’t know [a lot of Tagalog] but maraming salamat,” she added.
Osorio earned a crack at the final after besting No. 3 Solano Sierra of Argentina, (6-0, 6-1), Eala (6-4, 6-4) and Japanese Sakura Hosogi (6-4, 6-3), and Mai Hontama (6-4, 4-6, 6-2).
Vekic, on the other hand, outclassed Chinese Lin Zhu (6-4, 6-3), Maria Tkacheva (6-1, 6-2), and Japanese Kyoka Okamura (6-2, 6-2).
Write to RV C. Lachica
