Fan favorite Donna Vekic will be competing for the first-ever Philippine Women’s Open title in women’s singles.
Donna Vekic continued her onslaught in Manila, marching on to the finals of the Philippine Women’s Open after a 6-2, 6-4 win over Tatiana Prozorova in the semifinals at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center on Friday afternoon.
Playing in her first semifinal at the WTA level since Wimbledon 2024, Vekic hardly showed any weakness.
After failing to break Prozorova’s serve in the opening game, Vekic won five straight, including two breaks in the third and fifth games to seize the 5-1 lead over the Russian.
Despite Prozorova playing a service game to love in the subsequent game, Vekic replicated her feat in the eighth game to gain the advantage and momentum with a lopsided opening set win, 6-2.
It was more of the same in Set 2, where Vekic got herself on the board with another service game to love to tie the set at 1-all.
Despite dealing with some rain delay, Vekic was able to pick up where she left off.
A crucial break on Prosorova’s serve gave Vekic the 3-2 advantage which helped her close out in two sets, finishing off her opponent after one hour and 20 minutes.
Vekic awaits the winner of the other semifinal between Camila Osorio and Solana Sierra in the championship match slated on Saturday.
This will be Vekic’s first WTA final since the Bad Homburg Open in Germany last June 2024.
There, she lost against Diana Shnaider, 3-6, 6-2, 3-6, in the final.
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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.