Russian ace Tatiana Prozorova and Donna Vekic sealed a semifinal duel after beating their respective foes in the quarterfinals of the singles event of the WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center on Thursday.
A day after pulling off an earthshaking upset of top seed Tatjana Maria last Wednesday, the 22-year-old Russian authored another win over Sofia Costoulas of Belgium, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, to secure her spot in the semis on Friday.
On the other hand, Vekic displayed her skills, experience and impressive form to overcome Lin Zhu of China, 6-4, 6-3 in the second match of Day 4 of this event that was organized by the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Lawn Tennis Association.
Meanwhile, Filipina sensation Alex Eala is still battling Camila Osorio of Colombia at press time in the quarterfinals.
Should she emerge victorious, she will face the survivor in the quarterfinal battle between Lanlana Tararudee of Thailand and Solana Sierra of Argentina in the Last Four.
In women’s doubles, the American pair of Sabrina Santamaria and Quinn Gleason ousted Yu Yun Li of Chinese Taipei and Sara Saito of Japan, 6-2, 6-3, to book a seat in the final.
Finishing the match in 1:03, Santamaria, a Filipino-American netter, said she and Gleason remained calm despite the challenge posted by Yu and Saito in the second set.
“I think they started serving a lot better in the second set so it was a little bit harder to break them. But we just stuck to our guns and to our game plan and just committed,” Santamaria said.