MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines is ready to host a bigger and higher level of tennis tournament.
That is the evaluation of Women's Tennis Association (WTA) supervisor Cristina Romero Contla after the country hosted its first-ever Tour competition -- the WTA 125 Philippine Women's Open (PWO)
"If you're asking me if the Philippines would be ready to do a tournament of a higher caliber, then they're ready," said Romero to Philippine media in the final day of the PWO Saturday at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Contla praised the local organizing committee's hosting of the base level 125 tournament, also called a 'Challenger', even saying that it rivals the higher 250s to some degree.
"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 Contla.
Fans coming in droves even on game days without Eala as well as the Filipino hospitality and warm welcome were not lost on Contla.
"I think that the most important part is that we all felt very welcome here in the Philippines," said Contla.
"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. 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."
Contla hopes that the successful Philippine hosting of the PWO gets more recognition and draws more attraction from players, sponsors, and fans.
"I can tell you is that the people, the organizing team, did a fantastic job. They put up the best conditions for our 125 and they went above and beyond on what they could do," said Contla.
"So what I only hope is that this tournament brings the Philippines the recognition of what they can do. And hopefully, in the future, they can have more and better events."
"This is about getting back on its feet after a few years of not having so much activity. Yeah, I mean, I think that this will encourage sponsors and fans to come back to tennis. And hopefully, we also develop in other areas. So I hope that this tournament helps them out.”