Lehnert, Capadocia seal PCA crown duel

TOP SEED Filipino-German Katharina Lehnert had no problem brushing off Rachelle De Guzman, 6-1, 6-0, while defending champion Marian Jade Capadocia turned back Clarice Patrimonio, 6-3, 6-4, yesterday to forge a duel for the women’s singles crown in the Philippine Columbian Association Open tennis championships presented by Cebuana Lhuillier.

Lehnert, the world’s No. 445 in women’s singles, was in her usual overpowering form on the PCA shell-clay courts and encountered little opposition from De Guzman, who made it this far through impressive wins over former PH No. 1 Christine Patrimonio and fourth seed Aileen Rogan.

“I think I’m going to be ready for the finals, it’s going to be tough facing Marian but I had an easy time today,” said Lehnert.

The US-bound Capadocia, 17, made a second straight trip to the finals after downing Patrimonio in a marathon two-hour match that saw them swapping service breaks.

“By the second set I was feeling dizzy because I wasn’t feeling well,” said Capadocia in Filipino.

Capadocia will try to become the first back-to-back women’s singles champion here since Czarina Arevalo did it in 2002-2003. The women’s finals is set at 1 p.m. today followed by the men’s title duel between Johnny Arcilla, who is looking for his seventh title and Fil-Am Davis Cup hotshot Ruben Gonzales.