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| Camila Osorio only conceded one game against Solana Sierra in a total semifinal domination. Cesca Rampas |
MANILA--The stage is set for the final battle of the Philippine Women's Open as Donna Vekic and Camila Osorio booked their places in the singles final following their semifinal wins on Friday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
The 29-year-old Vekic, who instantly became a crowd favorite at the WTA 125 tournament to the point that some fans have begun calling her "Tita", ended Tatiana Prozorova's giant-slaying run with a 6-2, 6-4 win.
Vekic did not give Prozorova, who sent top-seeded Tatjana Maria home in the Round of 16, a chance to deliver an early stunner as the fourth-seeded Croatian dominated the first set.
Prozorova tried to spark a reverse-sweep run as she stayed close to Vekic, even scoring a break point to cut the lead to 1, 5-4.
However, in Game 10 with Prozorova to serve, Vekic got the break point back to seal the win to the delight of the Filipino fans.
Meanwhile, Osorio used her huge win against hometown hero Alex Eala as fuel to dominate Solana Sierra, 6-0, 6-1.
In her second straight win against a higher-seeded foe, the fifth-seeded Osorio surprised the third-seeded Sierra with a "love set" in Set 1.
Osorio continued the onslaught in Set 2 when she raced to a 4-0 lead, which made fans entertain the idea of a shutout.
Sierra finally got on the board when she won Game 5 in Set 2, but Osorio quickly brushed off her first game loss and finished her opponent off with back-to-back game victories.
Vekic and Osorio will face off in the championship battle at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
