THE search for the next Alexandra “Alex” Eala is on.
Inspired by Ms. Eala’s rise in the world tennis scene, the Gentry Open rolls the red carpet for its biggest edition to date with over 1000 entrants and the largest prize pool in Philippine tennis history starting next week at the Colegio de San Agustin (CSA) Tennis Stadium in San Jose del Monte, Bulacan.
A mixture of seasoned local aces and rising stars led by AJ Lim are ready to stand their ground against up to 12 foreign bets from India, United States, New Zealand and Ireland in the Grade A-level tournament — the highest for any local events in the country — on Thursday until Aug. 30 across all 11 courts in CSA.
Mr. Lim, who’s still in Spain to fine-tune his bearings, is out for revenge after losing to Arthur Craig Pantino in the final last year. Mr. Lim also bowed to Filipino-American ace Christopher Papa in this year’s 2026 Palawan Open as the country booms with multiple tennis tournaments in the golden age of the sport with the 21-year-old sensation Ms. Eala serving as the driving force.
Backed by the Philippine Tennis Association and Palawan Pawnshop, the Gentry Open was inaugurated last year in the middle of Ms. Eala’s international breakthrough and will plunge back to action this time around boasting a P3-million prize pool, as the biggest pot in any Philippine tennis tournament ever, to be at stake across multiple divisions in the men’s and women’s (singles, doubles and mixed) and juniors (boys and girls’ singles).
A whopping P400,000 grand prize is up for grabs for the men’s champion and P200,000 for the women’s titlist as the rest of the pool will be scattered in multiple categories.
“This is history in the making for Philippine tennis as the biggest local tournament ever staged here so we’re very excited in bringing out the most out the tennis community,” said founder Hayb “Pareng Hayb” Anzures of Gentry Open and Gentry Timepieces, who was joined by partners Yatharth Vidrohi Bhardwaj of Skywarrior Philippines, Honor Philippines Vice-President Stephen Cheng, Beauty Elements Ventures, Inc. manager Nana Borja and Philipine Bottling Beverages general manager Thor Mutuc, during the official press conference on Saturday in BGC, Taguig.
“We also acknowledges the success of Ms. Eala in this tournament. She brought a lot of awareness to aspiring athletes in the Philippines. She continues to inspire us and we hope to be a platform in finding the next Alex Eala here.”
Ms. Eala this month etched multiple “firsts” for Philippine tennis none bigger than hoisting her first-ever WTA Tour title in Washington D.C., USA. She also rose as the highest-ranked player from the Philippines ever at No. 20 and the first Filipina player to ever get seeded in any Grand Slam main draw (No. 29 in Wimbledon) where she reached the Round of 16, also a first for the Philippines.
In a bid to replicate Ms. Eala’s feat, Mr. Anzures also announced that the Gentry Open will sponsor a bevy of players through full scholarship and financial backing. Establishing a tennis academy is also in the plans.
“We hope this tournament will give a light in scouting our next tennis superstars like Alex (Eala),” added Mr. Anzures, who pledged a Rolex watch as an added prize for the champions after Ms. Eala’s title conquest in the WTA 500 Mubadala DC Open earlier this month.
Other sponsors also promised additional pots like smartphones, personal beauty kits and motorcycles as Gentry Open champions its all-out commitment to Philippine tennis with a promise of an annual tourney from here on despite being an upstart league only on its second edition.
“This is the commitment of the private sector to the Philippine tennis,” added Mr. Anzures, who eyes an even bigger staging next year, hopefully at a venue in Manila by summer time.
Gentry Open, for the past two years, have been scheduled during the rainy season that led to an indoor court in Bulacan, instead of an original plan at the refurbished Rizal Memorial Tennis Center in Manila, which served as the venue of Ms. Eala’s homecoming and first international tennis tournament here — the WTA 125 Philippine Women’s Open — earlier this year. — John Bryan Ulanday