Shaira Hope Rivera and Alyssa Bornia ended sisters Kaye and Mica Ella Emana’s giant-slaying ways with an emphatic 6-3, 6-4 victory on Saturday, Oct. 29, to crown themselves women’s doubles champions of the 39th PCA Open Tennis Championships at its Plaza Dila, Paco indoor shell court.
The second-seeded Rivera-Bornia pair used their experience and superb shot making in outlasting the unheralded Emana siblings in snaring the title and the P35,000 purse that goes with.
It was a win that came after Rivera and Bornia downed Jenaila Rose Prulla and Makeilah Nepomuceno, 6-2, 7-6 (6), in the semis the day before in this tournament bankrolled by Smart/PLDT, official ball Dunlop, Manila councilor Jong Isip, San Jose Salt, W. L. Food Products, Palawan Pawnshop and Pagcor.
The Emanas, for their part, were hoping to ride the crest of their giant-sized 7-5, 6-4 triumph over top seed Marian Jade Capadocia and Angeline Alcala the day before and complete a Cinderella finish.
But they ran into a game Rivera, a 23-year-old Southeast Asian Games veteran from Compostella Valley, and Bornia, a former titled age-grouper, and buckled under tremendous pressure and lost.
The men’s doubles title showdown between second pick Jeson Patrombon and Elbert Anasta with Jose Antonio Tria and Bryan Saarenas were battling each other for the P70,000 at stake at press time.
Patrombon and Anasta made it through by elimination top seeds Johnny Arcilla and Ronard Joven, 7-6 (6) 7-6 (5), whole Tria and Saarenas downed Joshua Kinaadman and Nilo Ledesma, 6-1, 5-7, 10-8, to arrange an intriguing title clash.
In men’s singles, former ATP World No. 160 Guillermo Olaso of Spain sent No. 2 Jeson Patrombon packing with 7-5, 6-2 win to set up a finals duel with No. 1 seed Arcilla today.
The women’s crown will be contested by favorites Capadocia and Prulla set at 10 a.m. today.
The event is staking a whopping cash purse worth around P1.1 million with the P200,000 going to the men’s singles winner and P100,000 to the women’s singles titlist courtesy of GAC Motors, GIMACA Convenience Store and Development Corp., Ourzen Chicken, HEAD, Ms. Rina Caniza, Mr. Benito Tan, Primo Dept Fuel Station, Kaizan Steel Trading, Cazneau, Inc. and Knaut Art Glass.