By MARK REY MONTEJO
The campaign of the Filipino netters in the inaugural Philippine Women’s Open may have ended following Alex Eala’s ouster in the quarterfinals, but the Filipina tennis ace is hoping that it was just the beginning of something big for PH tennis.
The 20-year-old world no. 49 player felt the maiden WTA tournament in the country brought light to PH tennis, and she’s hoping – and praying – that it would open more doors for more major events in the country.
“In my opinion, women’s tennis especially has been overlooked for a long time. On top of tennis already not being such a popular sport here in the Philippines,” said Eala moments after her 4-6, 4-6 quarterfinal loss to Colombian Camila Osorio.
“So to have a WTA here is a great stepping stone and I think a wake-up call for the people who are able to help and able to do something about it,” she added.
Aware of the scarcity of quality tournaments to help other Filipinas develop, Eala admitted that there is still a lot to be done for PH tennis.
“I heard the other day that locally there were only, for men, 8 professional tournaments around the Philippines and for women only two…,” Eala continued. “I think there’s a lot of room for improvement having just two pro tournaments for women tennis players.”
“I think there’s a huge margin for improvement there and Filipinos are super hardworking, super passionate, so I’m sure if we nourish our tennis players then slowly we can start to build more and more champions,” she added.
Aside from Eala, other homegrown talents Tenny Madis and Stefi Aludo finally got to experience world-class competition through the Philippine Women’s Open.
“I like to think that I’ve had something. something to do with this tournament coming alive. So that could be an example of how what I’ve done can help local players,” said Eala.
“I mean the fact that this tournament is happening is a huge thing for local players. So I think that’s an example of me doing my part,” she added.
