Philippine Women's Open: Top seed Tatjana Maria escapes Leolia Jeanjean for Round of 32 win

Top seed Tatjana Maria of Germany marched into the next round of the Philippine Women’s Open after eking out a 7(7)-6(5), 6-4 victory over Leolia Jeanjean of France in the Round of 32 on Tuesday night at the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex.

The world No. 42 Maria overcame multiple deuces before facing Jeanjean in the tiebreak of Set 1, where she trailed 0-2 before regaining her form and taking the one-set lead.

In Set 2, she encountered the same resistance from Jeanjean, who nearly staged a comeback after taking the ninth game to make it 5-4.

However, Maria took the 10th and final game punctuated by an ace to seal the win, delighting the Filipino crowd for two hours and 23 minutes of quality tennis with her impressive longevity.

“I knew it was going to be a tough match. I’ve played her a few times before. And she’s a very strong player too. The conditions today, it was so hot. We were sweating a lot. It was really a fight. But I’m happy to be in the next round. It was so nice to play in front of an amazing crowd,” said Maria during the post-match press conference.

Similar to hometown bet Alex Eala, Maria also suffered an early exit in the 2026 Australian Open before heading to the Philippines.

With her current Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) ranking, the 38-year-old German became the number one seed in the 32-player main draw.

Maria is set to face Tatiana Prozorova in the Round of 16, with the latter coming off a dominant win against local bet Kaye Ann Emana earlier.

—JMB, GMA Integrated News