FORMER world No. 2 and Paris Olympic silver medalist Donna Vekic of Croatia and resurgent German veteran Tatjana Maria, ranked No. 45 in the world, head the impressive list of early entries in the inaugural Philippine Women’s Open kicking off Jan. 26 at the newly-refurbished Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Both were on the provisional list of 24 players released over the weekend by the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) in the 32-player draw for the country’s first WTA 125 tournament.
Ranked second in the WTA ratings at the turn of 2024, Vekic, 29, a 2024 French Open semifinalist, is now ranked No. 69, but still remains among the players to watch in the blue-ribbon competition organized by the Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA) and supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).
PSC Chairman Patrick Gregorio and PHILTA officials inspected the progress of the facility's refurbishment on Friday.
“Twenty-two days to go before WTA 125. So no Christmas break, no New Year break, no holiday break. Everybody's here, PHILTA is here, (PSC) commissioners, PSC people are here," said Gregorio.
“We're all here just to make sure we transform Rizal Tennis [Center] as a showcase for the first-ever hosting of the WTA 125 in Manila."
The right-handed Vekic is a product of the famed IMG Academy founded by noted American tennis instructor Nick Bolletieri that also produced the likes of Grand Slam champions Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Maria Sharapova, and Serena Williams, among others.
On the other hand, Maria, 38, who reached a career-high of No. 36, showed that she has not lost her edge despite her age, achieving a stirring win at the Queen Club Championships in June last year for her fourth WTA Title.
Vekic and Maria are among the 10 players in the WTA top 100 of the prestigious tournament sanctioned by the WTA.
Other stars in inaugural Philippine Open
The highest rated player in the main draw after Maria is China’s Xinxu Wang (No. 57), whose claim to fame was teaming up with Taiwanese doubles legend Hsieh Shu-Wei in clinching the 2023 French Open women’s doubles crown.
Wang combined with Shu-wei brilliantly in coming from behind to stun the tandem of Fil-Canadian Leylah Fernandez and American Taylor Townsend 1-6, 7-6 (7-5), 6-1 in the finals.
Also vying in the netfest are Kazakhstan’s Yulina Putintseva (No. 71), Colombia’s Camila Osorio (No. 77), China’s Yue Yuan (No. 83), Switzerland’s Simona Waltert (No. 87), New Zealand’s Lulu Sun (No. 90), Japan’s Moyuka Uchijima (No. 94), and Australia’s Kimberly Berrell (No. 98).
In the event they are available, hometown favorite and 33rd Thailand Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Alex Eala (No. 53) and Indonesia’s Janice Tjen (No. 56) were awarded wild cards by PHILTA.
Eala and Tjen are committed to play in the main draw of the Australian Open that runs from Jan. 18 to Feb. 1 at the Melbourne Park hardcourts in Australia, and which overlaps with the Philippine Women’s Open.
Get more of the latest sports news & updates on SPIN.ph
NOTICE ON UNAUTHORIZED AND UNLAWFUL USE, PUBLICATION, AND/OR DISSEMINATION OF SPIN.PH CONTENT: Please be notified that any unauthorized and unlawful use, publication, and/or dissemination of Spin.ph’s content and/or materials is a direct violation of its legal and exclusive rights to the same, and shall be subject to appropriate legal action/s.
