With rules also reportedly going to be standardized by the international tennis organization moving forward.
During an a appearance before the Senate Committee on Sports on Thursday, October 7, Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA) executive director Tonette Mendoza dislcosed the outcome of their talks with the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) on exempting Filipina tennis champ Alex Eala fron current rules.
Specifically, the one concerning her non-appearance at the China Open in Beijing in order to represent the Philippines at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya.
Under existing rules, players are required to participate in the Chinese tournament, which is a WTA 1000 event, or face a possible fine.
According to Mendoza, the PHILTA asked Alex if she was willing to join the Philippine squad in the pan-continental games. Then, they communicated with the WTA her intention and requested that the penalties be waived.
“Actually, from the beginning, first we asked Alex if she was willing to join, and she made the decision on her own that she wanted to represent the country. So we asked the WTA if they could waive any of the penalties that they may impose on her,” she told the committee.
The PHILTA chief then narrated that the global association only asked them some questions.
“The WTA just asked us a few questions: if she made the decision on her own, meaning it was not under pressure from anybody in the government or the national federation, and if it is an Olympic qualifier for our country,” Mendoza detailed.
“To which we said yes, she made a decision on her own and it’s an Olympic qualifier. Then, they just never got back to us,” she furthered.
The PHILTA executive director also explained that according to the rules of the WTA, the penalties and points when players miss a mandatory tournament are assigned for those who “omit these tournaments because they want to play an exhibition.”
“It’s silent on representing the country… World Tennis, the ITF (International Tennis Federation), I met with them last week, they were very supportive of players representing their country and skipping a mandatory tournament,” she also stated.
In the recent Asian Games, Alex represented the country as the top-seeded player in the women’s singles event and teamed up with Shaira Rivera in women’s doubles.
In the former, she bagged the bronze medal, while Eala and Rivera fell short of making it to the quarterfinals.
