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| The Philippine Women's Open has what it takes to be upgraded to a WTA 250, says a WTA supervisor. Cesca Rampas (file photo) |
MANILA--Women's Tennis Association supervisor Cristina Romero gave high marks to the hosting of the first-ever Philippine Women's Open at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.
Speaking to reporters on Saturday before the singles final between Donna Vekic and Camila Osorio, Romero described the past week of world-class tennis action as excellent.
"To tell you the truth, it's an excellent turnout. As you could see, we have a very good field for players, but also it's a great opportunity for the WTA players to experience a tournament in the Asia-Pacific region," Romero said, adding that the PWO also helps develop the game in the said region.
Romero oversaw a bunch of WTA 125 events in the past, and the PWO is not an exception anymore since she was also tasked to supervise the tournament.
However, upon assessing how the event happened, she believes the PWO is already good enough to be upgraded to the WTA 250 level.
"I have done several 125s, and I have to say that it has a very, very high standard for it. Actually, it can compete with the 250s in different categories," Romero further said.
She also took note of how the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center drew sizable crowds from the qualifying phase to the final.
There were concerns that the said venue would only attract smaller attendance for the weekend following Alex Eala's quarterfinal exit on Thursday night, especially since some fans who bought their semis and final tickets began selling them online, apparently due to a loss of interest.
However, the fans responded to the challenge and packed the center court on both Friday and Saturday nights.
"We understand that Alex Eala brought a lot of attention to the community and to the people to go out and see the matches, but she was not the only one that enjoyed huge crowds. And that shows that the fans in the Philippines are ready to come and enjoy tennis," Romero said.
Once the PWO gets an upgrade, it will become officially a part of the WTA Tour, which could attract more top tennis stars aside from Osorio, the eventual champion, and Vekic.
However, Philippine Tennis Association secretary general John Rey Tiangco said later in the night, right after the final, that reclassifying the PWO into a 250 is a very tedious process.
"That's a different process because yung 125 franchise, you get directly from WTA, but the WTA doesn't offer 250s, 500s, and 1000s anymore. It's owned by a private entity, so you'll have to deal with them. It's either you lease the franchise or you buy it, so you have to negotiate," the concurrent Navotas mayor said.
He added that merely negotiating for the upgrade with the private entity would not automatically guarantee the reclassification, too.
"Di yun sure thing, kasi may limited number of 250s, 500s, and 1000s now," Tiangco further said.
However, he takes pride in how everyone gave positive feedback on how the tournament was organized, saying that they felt they were in a bigger tournament despite its 125 status.
For now, Tiangco hinted that next year's PWO will still be a WTA 125 event.
"I'm sure next year will be a much better 125, and we'll have more time to prepare, like even the sponsors and everything, and I'm sure we learned a lot from this. It's not perfect, but the good thing is, as you can see, everyone really helped each other," Tiangco further said, adding that if the unity continues, greater things will come.
However, still expect the WTA to step in if it thinks the PWO deserves the 250 status.
