Philippines’ Marian Capadocia. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO/Sherwin Vardeleon
Marian Jade Capadocia has won the Philippine Columbian Association (PCA) Open Tennis Championships seven times before.
In the 39th staging of the event, the national team standout will be gunning for an eighth crown.
“Of course, we always strive to win but I expect it to be tough whoever I face in the finals,” Capadocia said on Friday after quashing the hopes of seventh seed Alexa Joy Milliam during their semifinal showdown at PCA’s Plaza Dilao indoor shell court in Paco, Manila.
The No. 1 seed hammered out a 6-0, 6-1 demolition of Kyle Emana in the quarterfinals the day before and wasted no time against Milliam to reach the final.
Her opponent there will be either No. 2 seed Jenaila Prulla or qualifier Alexa Santos, who were still playing at press time.
“I haven’t faced Santos but I saw her play and Prulla is a little bigger now and she’s obviously younger,” said the 27-year-old two-time Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist. “I hope to play extra careful who ever between them I face.”
The event is staking P1.1 million in prizes with the men’s champion getting P200,000 and the women’s winner taking home P100,000.