Osorio, Vekic dispute PWO trophy

Donna Vekic of Croatia and Camila Osorio of Colombia will face off in the first-ever Philippine Women’s Open (PWO) final after beating their respective opponents at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center on Friday.

The fourth-seeded Vekic needed one hour and 16 minutes en route to a 6-2, 6-4 romp of Tatiana Prozorova of Russia in the semifinal round.

After suffering back-to-back early exits in the Auckland Open and the Australian Open earlier in the month, the 29-year-old Paris Olympics silver medalist is just happy to get a winning streak going in this prestigious tournament organized by the Philippine Sports Commission and the Philippine Lawn Tennis Association.

“It feels good to win a lot of matches and get into the final. I worked hard in the offseason and I played some good tennis in Australia,” Vekic said.

“The support is great and I hope they will cheer for me.”

The championship match will be at 4 p.m.

A day after eliminating local star Alex Eala, Osorio blasted Solana Sierra of Argentina, 6-0, 6-1, in the other semifinal match which lasted just for 46 minutes.

Facing Vekic again after her 6-7, 3-6 loss in the qualifying round of the 2022 Western and Southern Open in Mason, Ohio, the 24-year-old Osorio likes her chances after getting a lot of momentum.

“I was younger back then but I was able to get more matches in now. I have been playing well in the past few days,” Osorio said.

“Tomorrow is different and let’s see what happens.”