No less than Mike Eala, tennis star Alex Eala’s father, congratulated Philippine Sports Commission chairman Patrick “Pato” Gregorio for the successful hosting of the inaugural Philippine Women’s Open at the Rizal Memorial Tennis Center.

“What a winner event. You have gifted the nation. Continue to gift the nation with these wonderful sporting events. The inspiration it (the Philippine Women’s Open) ignites is immeasurable. Congratulations,” Gregorio quoted the elder Eala as saying in their chat the other day.

“Thank you for making this happen! On to the next.”

The PSC honcho, who was behind the staging of the first WTA 125 tournament in the country, shared the praises of the elder Eala because “we need to to make the Filipino people smile. What he said was beautiful.”

But Gregorio did not take the entire credit for the hosting of the major international tennis competition organized by the Philippine Tennis Association led by its president, Paranaque City Mayor Eric Olivarez, and secretary-general, Navotas City Mayor John Rey Tiangco, and sanctioned by the Women’s Tennis Association, which oversees the women’s pro tour.

“Just like it takes a community to create a world-class athletes, it also takes several collaboratorsin the creating an international sporting event that we can all proud of,” he stressed.

“Not only have our PSC people been working round-the-clock to create an ideal environment to stage the Philippine Women’s Open since we announced it last December, but there also our key partners that have made this all possible,” Gregorio pointed out.

Among them, he said, where the Manila City government led by Mayor Isko Moreno, the DPWH headed by Secretary Vince Dizon, the Metro Manila Development Authority and the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority under Mark Lapid.