Colombia’s Camila Osorio looked forward to playing against a player like Alex Eala as they faced off in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Women’s Open.
Semifinals-bound Camila Osorio took a lot of pride in being able to upend hometown bet and second seed Alex Eala, 6-4, 6-4, in the quarterfinals of the Philippine Women’s Open at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center on Thursday evening.
Owing to Eala’s rise to fame and impressive resume of wins in the past year, Osorio took Eala very seriously in their first matchup in their careers.
Despite playing the role of bad guy in Eala’s bid to win the crown in her home country, Osorio kept her head down and was able to outplay the WTA No. 49. That's thanks to the Colombian's agile play that had the Filipina moving a step slow when it came to their rallies.
[RELATED: Alex Eala falls to Camila Osorio in QF, exits Philippine Women’s Open]
Osorio said that it was a match that she didn’t take lightly — especially as Eala was playing in front of her home crowd.
“I really wanted to challenge her, because obviously, I mean, we're at her home and everything. And I just wanted to play some matches. And now that she's doing really well, so I wanted to also, you know, try to do my best on the court,” Osorio said after the match.
‘Great match to win’
While she did put a lot of emphasis on beating Eala, the Colombian fell short of celebrating too much.
In spite of the added layer of winning over the hometown bet, Osorio said that she valued Eala’s overall calibre as a player, rather than being a “spoiler” to the 20-year-old’s bid for the crown.
“Well, I don't know if you call it satisfaction. I think it was, you know, it's a great match and a good win for me, obviously,” said Osorio.
“As I said, she's a great competitor, she's an amazing player, she's doing unreal the past year and this year. She's doing great things in tennis, so obviously it's a big win for me... It's a great match to win,” she continued.
The challenge doesn’t end for Osorio, though, as she still needs to hurdle two more matches to claim the crown — which would mark the first time she wins a WTA title outside of her home country of Colombia.
Her latest challenge comes in the form of 3-seed Solana Sierra. They play in the second semifinal slated on Friday, January 30, with Donna Vekic and Tatiana Prozorova playing in the opening match at Center Court at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.