Osorio stymies Eala to enter Philippine Women's Open semifinals

Combining both power and finesse, Colombia's Camila Osorio stymied Filipina pride Alex Eala 6-4, 6-4 to enter the semifinals of the Philippine Women's Open at the jammed Rizal Memorial Tennis Center last night.

Mixing her shots with accuracy and precision, Osorio, seeded No. 5, frustrated Eala's bid in moving closer to a chance of winning her home tournament, much to the disappointed of the local fans who rooted for the Pinay netter throughout.

After 89 minutes of Center Court action, Osorio emerged triumphant in her first clash with the second-seeded Eala in the WTA 125 competition supported by the Philippine Sports Commission.

In an all-South American clash, Osorio will take on Argentine Solana Sierra, who ousted Thai Lanlana Tararudee 6-4, 6-3 in the semis today.

With Eala gone, expect the local fan attention to be on popular Croatian Donna Vekic, who raised her game in the critical moments to down upset-conscious Chinese Zu Lin in straight sets 6-4, 6-3 to book a semis ticket.

Awaiting Vekic is dangerous Russian Tatiana Prozova, who upset German top seed Tatjana Maria the previous, and rallied from a 0-1 deficit to eliminate Belgian Sofia Costoulas 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.

"Sayang, sayang, hindi nakapasa. It wasn't for me today and congratuations to Camila," said Eala immediately after her match with the feisty and experienced Colombian, who reached the second round of the French Open thrice and US Open twice,

"I didn't mind the home fans at all, and it was still a tough match. I just played better," noted Osorio of her first clash with the Filipina in the tournament serving as the first project of the National Sports Tourism-Inter Agency Committee led by PSC Chairperson Patrickn "Pato" Gregorio.

Drawing inspiration from the hometown crowd, Vekic was rock-steady in the opening set, taking the initiative at 4-3 after breaking Zhu in the seventh game, rifling two successive forehand down-the-line winners before the latter double-faulted.

She held serve in the next at 40-15 for a 5-3 edge and pushed her rival to the brink after four deuces until the Chinese finally held as the Croatian hit a long backhand.

Serving out the set, Vekic nearly squandered a 40-0 edge as Zhu strung up three straight points to push the 10th game to deuce, only to see her rival put the game and sat away in scoring the next two points, capped by a sizzling forehand crosscourt winner. (ICE)

Colombian Camila Osorio (left) consoles Filipina star Alex Eala after their quarterfinal match in the Philippine Women's Open Thursday night. Osorio won 6-4, 6-4.