Following her quarterfinal exit in the Philippine Women’s Open, Alex Eala made sure to advocate for local tennis players here in the country.
For Alex Eala, it was never about winning the Philippine Women’s Open, which would’ve etched her name anew in the history books of local sports.
Rather, the bigger picture is how Philippine tennis can grow after such a historic moment in the growth of the sport. The 20-year-old had made it clear from the get-go that her goal was a little bit bigger than just adding to her accolades professionally.
After exiting in the quarterfinals on Thursday evening, Eala spoke about the overall impact of the tournament and how she hopes things move forward.
While she was happy to see the WTA 125 tournament unfold, she knows it is only one step in the right direction.
“Well, I think this is a good stepping stone like I've mentioned before. In my opinion, women's tennis especially has been overlooked for a long time,” Eala said after dropping her quarterfinals against Camila Osorio.
“On top of tennis already not being such a popular sport here in the Philippines, I heard the other day that locally there were only, for men, eight professional tournaments around the Philippines, and for women only two. So, to have a WTA here, like I said, is a great stepping stone.”
Eala further called on those in position to give more chances for other players to compete — such as they did at the Philippine Women’s Open.
[READ: Alex Eala says future of Philippine tennis is a collective effort — 'I'm just one person’]
While the lopsided losses showed just how far the Philippines needs to go to produce more top-level competitors, Eala hopes that it’ll come naturally as things go on.
“I think a wake-up call for the people who are able to help and able to do something about it. I think there's a lot of room for improvement having just 2 professional tournaments for women tennis players. I think there's a huge margin for improvement there,” she said.
“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.
‘Great success’
Although she won’t see it to its completion, with her flight to Abu Dhabi scheduled on Friday night, Eala does give the Philippine Women’s Open a passing grade.
Poised as a crucial moment in Philippine tennis, Eala hopes it turns into bigger and better things.
“I think this tournament, although it's not yet done, I think it's been a great success,” she said.
“Just the turnout of people, seeing how much they've enjoyed, hearing the feedback from other players, and from people in the WTA, I think it couldn't have turned out better for a first edition. I'm so happy that I got to be a part of it and I'm so happy that I was able to see it unfold,” she continued.
The last two days of the Philippine Women’s Open will unfold on Friday afternoon, with the semifinals of the singles draw and the doubles final happening at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center here in Manila.
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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.