The Philippine Women’s Open has done good numbers leading up to its final day of competition on Saturday, January 31.
Things have been going well in the country’s first-ever hosting of a WTA tournament, with the sellout Philippine Women’s Open wrapping up with its final day of action on Saturday, January 31, at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
From players to the fans themselves, there has been a lot of positive feedback surrounding the organization.
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With the long-term plan of turning the tournament into a WTA 250 tiff, many are speculating that the Philippines is ready to go bigger and bigger in the hopes of bringing more eyes into the sport of tennis.
Even with the future of the Philippine Women’s Open still up in the air, the WTA did not hold back in praising the Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA) and the Philippine Sports Commission in how things have turned out.
“Well, I have to say that I have done several 125s and I have to say this has a very, very high standard for it. Actually, it competes with 250s in different categories.” said WTA Supervisor Cristina Romero on the day of the singles final.
Stopping short of confirming an upgrade in the near future, Romero said that it also had to do with the overall atmosphere that Filipinos were able to bring to the competition.
Having been known for being hospitable, the hosts’ openness to everyone who came over to play and help organize the competition played a part in how successful things have been.
“I think that the most important part is that we all felt very welcome here in the Philippines. We saw the crowd, that they were super interested in the tournament since day one, since the qualifying. We had a huge amount of people coming every day.” said Romero of the soldout tournament.
“We understand that Alex Eala brought a lot of attention to the community, to the people to come and see matches. But she was not the only one that enjoyed the huge crowds. And that shows that the fans of the Philippines are ready to come and enjoy tennis.” she continued.
Up to the higher ups
While Romero was left tremendously impressed by how things have transpired the past few days, she did admit that it was out of her hands, on whether or not the Philippine Women’s Open can be upgraded to a WTA 250 tournament.
But at the end of the day, she is willing to give the Philippines a colorful review – one that could help the Philippines improve its chances to host bigger and better tournaments in the future.
After showing their promise in the country’s first-ever WTA tournament, things can only go up.
“Listen, this is something that is decided by my superiors. Of course, with my feedback of the tournament and how the organization did a great event, that can help, of course, to know that [the] Philippines is prepared to do a worldwide event. That is for sure.” she said.
“Now, the other thing is that the tournament and the calendar has to be prepared by different people. There's the Players' Council, there's the Tournament Council. So that is a decision that comes from the organization and we will have to see if they have a spot in the calendar to do it.”
Should things align, Romero has no doubt that the Philippines has the capacity to replicate the success of the Philippine Women’s Open.
“If you're asking me if [the] Philippines would be ready to do a tournament of a higher caliber, then they're ready.” she said.
The Philippine Women’s Open singles final is set to be the swan song for this year’s edition with Croatian and fan favorite Donna Vekic vying for the crown against Colombian Camila Osorio on Saturday afternoon.
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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.