Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala faces Japan's Himeno Sakatsume in the WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open Round of 16 at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila on January 28, 2026. Jonathan Cellona, ABS-CBN News
MANILA -- After the positive feedback and turnout of the Philippine Women's Open, Filipina tennis ace Alex Eala said the country's first WTA tournament serves as a 'wake-up call' for stakeholders to put more effort into developing the sport.
Eala said she was happy to be part of the Philippine Women's Open, which she sees as a way to shine the spotlight on the potential of producing local talent.
READ: Alex Eala hopes local tennis gets a boost after Philippine Women's Open
But the WTA No. 45 player pointed out the need to address the lack of local tournaments, especially in women's tennis.
The Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA) said it is eyeing to mount more local tournaments to heed this call, amid growing interest in the sport.
"Yes. I also said in one of the interviews, this is part of the ecosystem. One of the challenges when we organize tournaments is that when we organize such tournaments, there [are] men's, women's, and juniors," PHILTA Secretary General John Rey Tiangco said at the end of the Philippine Women's Open.
"But our problem for women's, there aren't enough players who participate. Now it's different since they got the experience to play here and they saw that there is an opportunity for them to play in big tournaments such as this," he added.
Tiangco, who is a former tennis player himself, believes the WTA 125 tournament will pave the way for changes in the development of the sport.
"Normally, after juniors, they go to a different career, or a different sport actually. Nag-iibang racket sport sila kasi walang opportunity. Now, it's different. We really want to promote women's tennis," he said.
"With the inspiration of Alex, I'm sure more women would play tennis. We're very happy for a lot of our players because they got the opportunity," Tiangco shared.
With the Philippine Women's Open on a three-year deal, the return of the tournament to the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center is inevitable.
But Tiangco believes the courts can and should be used for other tournaments as well.
"Well, we fixed, thanks to PSC for really funding, resurfacing and fixing, not just the tennis courts, the whole facility. And it's an investment, because after this tournament, we can use it for other tournaments," Tiangco said.
"And not just local tournaments, because we've been using this for local tournaments. Now we can even have, like for juniors, we already have the ITFs here. We can have ATFs, we can have probably the small DTBs, because it's already qualified, it would pass the requirements of those tournaments," he added.
OPENING RIZAL TENNIS COURTS TO ALL
PHILTA Secretary General John Rey Tiangco. PHILTA/Philippine Women’s OpenPhilippine Sports Commission Chairman Patrick Gregorio earlier told ABS-CBN News that they are open to the idea of opening the refurbished Rizal Memorial Tennis Center to the public.
The plan is similar to the PSC's earlier move to allow the public use of its track and field ovals in Manila, Pasig City and Baguio City.
READ: WTA lauds PH for successful first-ever WTA 125 hosting
PHILTA Executive Director Tonette Mendoza likewise told ABS-CBN News the move would be a welcome development especially with the growing interest in tennis.
Tiangco said they are working with the PSC on the proposal to open the courts for public use.
"I also discussed with Chairman Pato [Gregorio] if we could manage the courts like before. Because before, it was a public court, and a lot of players could just play here. Even not competitive, even our seniors. But now, they go to, I think sa CCP na yata sila kasi nagsara ito," Tiangco said.
"Dati kasi public court ito eh. So, just like what they did in the stadium, madaming tumatakbo doon, it's very lively, buhay na buhay," he noted.
PHILTA believes growing the sport in the country goes beyond Eala's influence and hosting high-level tournaments in the country.
It boils down to making facilities and the sport itself accessible to the public.
"It's not just actually winning medals. I think it's part of the President's holistic approach to our Healthy Lifestyle Program that we have to be active. So whether you're a junior player, you want to be a champion, you're a junior player, you want to get into a scholarship abroad, we're here. Or just a club player, or just for health reasons," Tiangco explained.
"So, we can hopefully use the facility. Because most of the tennis courts, mostly are for membership. So, this is what we need, public courts," he added.