THOMASIAN NETTER Kaye Emana’s efforts were not enough to break through the opening round of the first-ever Philippine Women’s Open at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Court on Tuesday, Jan. 27.
Following a four-hour weather delay, the Filipina and reigning UAAP tennis MVP was overwhelmed by World No. 174 Tatiana Prozorova of Russia, 6-1, 6-0, in the Round of 32.
The match was originally scheduled for a 2:00 p.m. start but was pushed back multiple times due to rain-soaked courts. The game went underway at 6:05 p.m.
Emana showed flashes of brilliance in the first set, coming close to winning multiple games. However, she succumbed to numerous net faults, losing valuable points along the way.
Down 4-0, Emana finally prevailed over Prozorova, who then responded by winning the next two games to conclude the set. The Russian continued her dominance from the start of the next set to settle the match.
With this loss, Emana officially exited from the tournament, a day after bowing out of the doubles event alongside UST teammate Justine Maneja in a 6-2, 6-2 loss to Latvia’s Darja Seministaja and Argentina’s Nicole Fossa Huergo.
Meanwhile, Prozorova will advance to the second round and go up against German Tatjana Maria.
Emana entered the country’s inaugural Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 125 event as a wildcard entrant after handily dispatching some of the nation’s best in the pre-qualifiers.
Despite the loss, Emana will seek to use her WTA 125 experience in the upcoming UAAP Season 88 women’s tennis tournament later this year.
All eyes are on fellow Filipina Alex Eala to continue waving the Filipino flag high in her upcoming matchup against the winner of Japan’s Himeno Sakatsume and Nao Hibino in the Round of 16 at the same venue tomorrow, Jan. 28. F – Lorenzo Sebastian Amoroso
