The Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) is confident that the inaugural  Philppine Women’s Open on 26 January will be a huge success.

Philta secretary general and Navotas City Mayor John Rey Tiangco said the tennis courts that will be used are ready and enjoying the backing of the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC).

World No. 38 Tatjana Maria of Germany, No. 43  Wang Xinyu of China, No. 64 Solana Sierra of Argentina, No. 85 Lulu Sun of New Zealand and No. 87 Moyuka Uchijima of Japan are expected to banner the competition as the Philippines hosts its first-ever Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 125 competition.

Even Alex Eala is slated to join the Philippine Women’s Open as a wildcard should she gets eliminated early in her Australian Open (AO) campaign that starts on Sunday against world No. 100 Alycia Parks of the United States.

“The fact that we are already using the courts for a qualifying tournament among our top local players for the Philippine Women’s Open means that it is almost ready. With the PSC beside us, we are confident everything will be finished on time,” Tiangco said.

“That’s why we chose this date because it’s the second week of AO. It means a lot of players, top-ranked players would go here because it’s within the region.

SEA Games silver medalist Tennielle Madis will also compete in the Philippine Women’s Open as a wildcard alongside Eala.

With Philta signing a three-year-contract for the WTA, Tiango said the Philippine Women’s Open will be part of their plans in honing world-class athletes.

“This is a big deal. This is not a one-time event but an investment in Philippine tennis,” Tiangco said.

“We are building an ecosystem that will allow our players to compete against world-class opponents.”