A pair of blockbuster, high-stakes singles finals are locked in at the P2 million Palawan Open 2026 as Fil-Am Christopher Papa survived an absolute multi-hour epic to set up a heavyweight men’s singles title clash against the Philippines’ premier player, Alberto Lim Jr.
Meanwhile, the ageless Marian Capadocia continued her defiant run, setting up a tantalizing, revenge-fueled women’s finals showdown against top seed Tennielle Madis.
The Final Four matches delivered high drama late Friday, but none matched the sheer theater of the fourth-ranked Papa’s grueling 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(4) reversal over Indian top seed Digvijay Singh.
After splitting the first two sets via identical scorelines, Papa and Singh engaged in a brutal, baseline mano-a-mano war in the deciding set. Refusing to yield, both players traded holds for 12 consecutive games, pushing the match into a high-pressure tiebreak. It was there that Papa’s composure shined.
Anchored by spectacular defense and elite court savvy, he unleashed a flurry of clutch volleys and heavy baseline strikes to break the top seed’s resolve and secure a spot in the finals of the tournament.
Waiting for him there is the host country’s top gun, Lim, who enjoyed a starkly contrasting, dominant path to the championship.
Lim reasserted his mastery over familiar rival Eric Jed Olivarez with a commanding 6-1, 6-3 victory. Riding the wave of a tough quarterfinal win over Casey Alcantara, the four-time PCA Open champion imposed his will instantly, racing to a 5-0 lead in the opening frame.
He then broke Olivarez in the opening game of the second set and ultimately sealed the match by breaking him again in an extended ninth-game duel, sealing a marquee clash with Papa for the lucrative P300,000 top purse on Sunday at 5 p.m.
The women’s finale, scheduled for Sunday at 3 p.m., promises to be equally explosive, though both finalists booked their tickets in shockingly lopsided fashion.
