On her home turf, the Colombian queen of tennis, Camila Osorio, successfully defended her Copa Colsanitas Zurich title in Bogota on Sunday.
As the No. 2 seed, Osorio defeated Polish qualifier Katarzyna Kawa in straight sets, 6-3, 6-3, to secure her third Bogota championship. She previously won the tournament in 2021 and the preceding year.
Osorio now stands as only the second player to achieve three or more singles titles in Bogota. She is closing in on Fabiola Zuluaga`s record of four Bogota titles, earned in 1999, 2002, 2003, and 2004.
A dramatic journey: Osorio faced a tough challenge early in the week. She was on the brink of defeat with a match point against her in the second round against American Emina Bektas. However, she rallied and managed to win after a grueling match lasting 2 hours and 31 minutes.
Following this close call, the champion`s performance improved. Osorio won her subsequent two matches without dropping a set, overcoming another two-time champion, Tatjana Maria, in the quarterfinals, and Julia Riera in the semifinals.
The final match continued Osorio`s streak of straight-set victories. She concluded the first set with an ace and quickly established a commanding 3-0 lead in the second set with a double break.
Kawa showcased excellent net play to regain one break, but she couldn`t fully equalize. Tension arose on the third championship point when a double fault by Kawa was initially called but then overturned upon review. Ultimately, Osorio seized her fourth championship point after playing for 1 hour and 23 minutes.
Osorio concluded the final match with 22 winners compared to Kawa`s 14. The Colombian player also capitalized on five out of her ten break point opportunities, securing another Bogota victory.
Despite the defeat, it was a successful week for Kawa, 32, who reached her second WTA singles final nearly six years after her first. Kawa had nearly dropped out of the Top 300 rankings last November but is now on the verge of returning to the Top 150.
The week also highlighted the impressive run of 16-year-old American Julieta Pareja. Making her WTA main-draw debut, Pareja reached the semifinals before being defeated by Kawa. Pareja is the youngest WTA semifinalist since Coco Gauff at the 2019 Linz Open, where Gauff won the title as a lucky loser.
Spanish duo claims doubles title: The Copa Colsanitas Zurich doubles title was awarded to the top-seeded Spanish team of Cristina Bucsa and Sara Sorribes Tormo. They narrowly defeated Brazil`s Laura Pigossi and Romania`s Irina Bara 5-7, 6-2, [10-5] in the final on Sunday.
This marks the second title for Bucsa and Sorribes Tormo as a team, their previous victory being at the WTA 1000 Madrid Open last year. They also won a bronze medal together at the Paris Olympics last year.
In total, this is the sixth WTA doubles title for both Bucsa and Sorribes Tormo in their careers.
More updates to follow…
Rupert Caldwell