Emana gets early boot at PWO, falls to Prozorova

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino netter Kaye Emana suffered an early exit at the Philippine Women’s Open after getting dominated by Russian Tatiana Prozorova in their round of 32 clash, 6-1, 6-0, at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center Court 1 Tuesday evening.

With the UAAP MVP getting the boot, world no. 49 Alex Eala is the only home bet left in the tournament.

Tennielle Madis and Elizabeth Abarquez got eliminated in the first round, too, on Monday.

Meanwhile, veteranTatjana Maria of Germany narrowly lived up to her billing as the No. 1 seed last night, slipping past upset-conscious Frenchwoman Leolia Jeanjean 7-6 (7-5), 6-4 to advance to the second round.

Fans who waited for nearly four hours to finally see both players on Center Court were treated to a remarkable tennis treat of fine shotmaking rarely seen in a long while here between Maria and Jeanjean, who were familiar with each other styles, having played each other previously.

In the end, it was Maria, the oldest at 38 and highest-rated player in the WTA 125 tournament at No. 42, who survived the battle of wills and skills in prevailing after a riveting and entertaining match that lasted two hours and 23 minutes.

Due to intermittent rain in the afternoon, matches that were originally set to begin at 2 p.m. were pushed back to nearly six o'clock in the evening as the sky finally began to clear up in the meet backed by the Philippine Sports Commission.

The delay also wiped out all pf the doubles matches set for yesterday, which will be played in morning today of the competition organized by the Philippine Tennis Association and sanctioned by the Women's Tennis Association.

"It was a very tough match (against Jeanjean) since we have played each other in the past amid these humid conditions," said Maria, who came to the country for the first time with his husband-coach Charles and two daughters.

The tournament is the first project of the National Sports Tourism-Inter Agency Committee (NST-IAC) led by PSC Chairperson Patrick "Pato" Gregorio in 2026.

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