Hawaii education beckons Madis

Regardless of the result of her Philippine Women’s Open campaign, a bright future beckons Tennielle Madis.

The 18-year-old netter is set to attend University of Hawaii, not just to study, but also to hone her game similar to what Alex Eala did when she trained at the Rafael Nadal Academy in Spain several years ago.

All eyes will be on Madis when she joins Eala in representing the country in the prestigious Philippine Women’s Open starting 26 January at the newly-refurbished Rizal Memorial Sports Complex (RMSC) tennis center.

The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 125 tourney that is organized by the Philippine Sports Commission and Philippine Lawn Tennis Association (Philta) promises to be a slam-bang affair as both Madis and Eala will be battling a star-studded field featuring No. 43 Wang Xinyu of China, No. 64 Solana Sierra of Argentina, No. 70 Donna Vekic of Croatia, No. 85 Lulu Sun of New Zealand and No. 87 Moyuka Uchijima of Japan.

Two more Filipinos are expected to join Eala and Madis pending the outcome of the local tourney that is being held at the RMSC tennis courts.

Madis said she will fly to Hawaii as soon as she finishes her Grade 12.

“I will be going to Hawaii in August after I finish Grade 12 here. They offered me a scholarship,” said Madis, who is attending home school to give her ample time to train and compete in local circuit.

“I plan to attend school in September. I have yet to commit.”

If her plan of studying in Hawaii doesn’t miscarry, Madis will be the latest Filipino athlete to study and hone her skills abroad.

Among the prominent Filipino athletes studying and competing in the United States are golfer Rhianne Malixi, who is attending Duke University, and fencer Samantha Catantan, who is studying at Penn State. Basketball prodigy Kieffer Alas is also in the United States to play for Utah Prep Academy, where he exploded for 34 points in his very first game.

Meanwhile, Olympian Jasmine Alkhaldi is the prominent Filipino athlete who attended University of Hawaii.

Madis said she’s not intimidated facing the world’s best tennis players on local soil.

“I’m super excited because I will be able to fight against the higher-level players. It feels so special,” said Madis, who is at No. 196 in the International Tennis Federation junior ranking.