 |
| Camila Osorio showed toughness down the stretch against Alex Eala at the latter's home ground. Cesca Rampas |
MANILA--Alex Eala's bid to win a major tennis title on home ground came to a rough ending as Camila Osorio won a tight 6-4, 6-4 quarterfinal victory in the Philippine Women's Open on Thursday night at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Crucial break points in Game 9's of both sets gave Osorio crucial 5-4 leads with her serving to clinch each set.
Amid gallant efforts from Eala in some points of the match to score service breaks, especially in Set 2 where she got back at Osorio every time she served, the Colombian tennis star preserved her serve in both Game 10's to clinch both sets and eventually the match.
Osorio will next face Solana Sierra, 6-3, 6-4 winner against Lanlana Tararudee, in the semifinals on Friday night.
With Eala's loss, Sierra, seeded third, is now the highest-seeded player left in the WTA 125 tournament, and she will battle the fifth-seeded Osorio next.
The other Final 4 pairing will see fourth-seeded Donna Vekic, 6-4, 6-3 winner against Zhu Lin, battling the surprising Tatiana Prozorova, who beat Sofia Costoulas via reverse sweep, 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Eala will now fly to Abu Dhabi to compete in the Mubadala Abu Dhabi Open, a WTA 500 tournament starting on Sunday.
Eala earned a wildcard spot into the main draw, where she will meet familiar foes like Jelena Ostapenko, Barbora Krejcikova, and Southeast Asian rival Janice Tjen.
