There was a time when Philippine tennis lived quietly in the background, surviving through scattered tournaments, aging public courts, and the stubborn hope of grassroots coaches and parents who refused to let the sport disappear.

Then came Alex Eala — a 20-year-old netter who is armed with a belief that reached far beyond the baseline — and suddenly, the game had a pulse again.

But behind the rise of the country’s brightest tennis star is a federation scrambling to rebuild an entire ecosystem, and at the center of that effort stands Tonette Mendoza, the Philippine Lawn Tennis Association (Philta) executive director and a longtime tennis figure.

Mendoza spoke with the calm familiarity of someone who has seen Eala long before the spotlight arrived, before the WTA rankings, before the packed courts and sleepless Filipino fans waiting for 4 a.m. matches from Europe.

“Alex, I’ve known her since she was like six years old. She’s like that. She has a strong heart,” Mendoza said last Thursday on Off the Court, the weekly online sports show of DAILY TRIBUNE.

“She doesn’t give up. She just goes for it.”

For Mendoza, Eala’s 6-0, 3-6, 6-4 first-round victory in the Italian Open over No. 45 Magdalena Frech of Poland meant more than simply advancing. It was evidence that Eala is learning how to survive on surfaces that once exposed weaknesses in her game.

“So, last night, she showed that she can find a way to win. Actually, I was nervous because she was the first one to break in the second set,” Mendoza said.

“But, we saw that she didn’t panic. She just looked for her game, and she stuck to her game.”

Starting serve

Mendoza has had a love for the game since she was nine years old and even played varsity tennis for Ateneo de Manila University while earning her degree in BS Engineering Management from 1985 to 1989.

Although she didn’t become a professional player herself, she kept herself in the loop as her family is involved with the sport, especially former Philta president Luis Mendoza, who served from 2006 to 2008.

“Although I never took it seriously, I played varsity in Ateneo. My family is involved in tennis, so that’s why I got some exposure,” Mendoza said.

When Philta appointed her in 2024, Mendoza recalled that there were already activities planned as the federation restructured after its suspension from the International Tennis Federation.

“They asked if I was willing to do it, since I already knew a bit about how. Although I was shocked because we did a lot of things all of a sudden.”

“I mean, there were never that many activities. So last year, the activities continued from September. But yeah, that’s my history.”

As Eala made a breakthrough run in the Miami Open in 2025, and see the demand for tennis rise.

Mendoza admitted that Philta almost turned down the opportunity to host a Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) 125 tournament. But because of Eala’s popularity, they decided to pull the trigger and host the Philippine Women’s Open last January.

“When Alex boomed, that’s when WTA called, saying that they wanted to put a WTA 125 event. Actually, we didn’t go with it at first because we felt that the venue wasn’t ready,” said Mendoza as they asked for support from the Philippine Sports Commission.

“Alex’s popularity increased steadily, so we thought it would be a good time to bring in a real professional tournament.”

The decision paid off as the newly-renovated courts inside the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex showed there was a demand for the sport.

“PSC opened it to the public. In one hour, the slots were full for one week,” Mendoza said.

“People are hungry because, I guess, they found out it’s good exercise. And then, parents also found out that it’s possible to have an international tennis player.”

Eyes on the future

Mendoza knows they can’t just let Eala carry the hopes of a nation as they also do their best to find and develop talent.

She said that by adding more tournaments, girls will be able to consistently hone themselves and, eventually, get recruited by some of the biggest schools in the country.

“Actually, what we’re doing right now, first of all, is just increasing the local competition because there have been no women’s tournaments, maybe for the past 15 years,” Mendoza said.

“What we’re doing is just making it worthwhile for these girls to play tennis professionally because what happens is that when they play tennis and after they finish in college, they just work or become a coach.”

More tennis courts are also being eyed to make sure promising players will be able to be scouted right away, and eyes are on an academy inspired by Eala’s Rafael Nadal Academy stint in Spain.

“We have plans to put up a tennis academy because we have a piece of property that we have an agreement with the BCDA (Bases Conversion and Development Authority), so it’s going to be in Clark. And then, we also want to have many regional training centers,” Mendoza said.

She sees tennis not only as a pathway to scholarships or professional careers but as a tool that shapes discipline, patience and resilience.

“Well, I hope everybody can take up a sport. Tennis is not that hard. There are a lot of tennis courts around. After all, tennis is a good training ground for life.”

For years, the country searched for proof that a Filipino could stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the world’s best tennis players.

Now, that proof exists.

And the harder task, Mendoza knows, is making sure Eala becomes the beginning of something rather than the exception.