As a milestone beckons for Philippine tennis with the Philippine Women’s Open, Brysl Libao is happy to take part in any form or capacity.
For a tennis player, the ultimate dream has always been to play at the highest level — but sometimes, not all things go according to plan.
That is, dreams are realized under entirely different circumstances.
Tennis player-slash-coach Brysl Libao lives a similar life, where he now gets to be a part of tennis history in the Philippines, but not in the way that he might’ve first thought of when he started playing tennis wide-eyed and hopeful.
For the first-ever WTA tournament in the Philippines, Libao has the unique chance to play a part in it, as a volunteer hitting partner at the Philippine Women’s Open.
While it's different than what he would have originally imagined, Libao is thankful for the opportunity to contribute to the overall growth of tennis in the Philippines, a sport now on the rise thanks to the success of Alex Eala.
[RELATED: Alex Eala ecstatic to see ‘dream’ home tournament fulfilled with Philippine Women’s Open]
“Yeah, obviously, when I was a kid, I mean, I'm sure that's everyone's dream to play in the, well, for women, it's WTA and for men, it's the ATP. But I'm still really proud and happy to be part of this,” Libao told One Sports in an exclusive online interview.
“And the fact that this is history, this is the first in the Philippines. So I was really hoping and looking forward to just being a part of it and volunteering to be a part of [this]… So really excited. I can't wait.”
Inspiring the next generation
At the end of the day, the two-time All-American player knows that it’s not just about himself, or even Eala, and any other current player.
Rather, the Philippine Women's Open is about putting down the foundation for the next generation of Filipino tennis players.
With WTA talent headed to Manila for the first time, Libao hopes that the exposure to high-level tennis will help grow the local talent, especially as they are exposed to an entirely different level of tennis.
This as junior players will be widely involved in the Philippine Women’s Open as well. For Libao, it’s an opportunity to see what they can be.
“I saw [Mananchaya Sawangkaew] from Thailand. So she's the one who played Alex in the SEA Games Finals and then also lost to Emma Raducanu. So [it was] really exciting and I kind of got starstruck seeing her there training and then she's not even in the main [draw] yet. So really exciting to see,” said Libao.
“And honestly, you can't believe that a lot of these players are coming to the Philippines in the courts that I grew up in, Rizal Memorial. So [it's] really crazy the fact that they're actually coming here in the Philippines,” he continued.
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Luisa Morales is a sports writer with a special interest in promoting women’s sports.
Her coverage highlights include the UAAP, PVL, Southeast Asian Games, and the FIBA World Cup. She also follows Alex Eala, the Philippine women’s national football team, and mixed martial arts.