Unwavering passion for tennis

Philippine tennis owes a lot to Oscar Hilado, a man whose passion for the game knows no bounds. As PHINMA and Philippine Tennis Academy (PTA) chairman, Hilado has propped up the game from way back when he played it as vigorously as he now supports it. Hilado is 86 and enjoying a rebirth like tennis as after a five-year hiatus because of the pandemic and PHILTA’s suspension from the International Tennis Federation (ITF), the sport is back on track to pave the way for Filipino netters to make waves.

Today, the PHINMA ITF U18 two-leg, two-week competitions end at the Manila Polo Club. It’s a testament to Hilado’s love for the game that his support has remained unflinching. “Because of PHILTA’s suspension, we were brought down to J30 level or Group Five in staging tournaments so it’s back to square one,” said PTA president Rommie Chan. “We’ll work our way up to J60 or Group Four then onwards. PHILTA has been reinstated by ITF and it will be formalized at the next Congress in October. The first PHINMA ITF tournament was in 2005. This is a pathway for Filipinos to earn ranking points without going abroad since PHINMA being the sponsor, we’re allowed to bring in four wildcards for the qualifying and four for the main draw. The ratio of US dollar to an earned point is $50 to one so it’s an expensive proposition. We prepared six months for this ITF event and timed it so foreign players could come over for two weeks then move to a nearby country for another tournament. This year, there were over 120 total players, male and female, from countries like the US, Spain, Australia, Ukraine, Russia, Japan, Indonesia, Spain, Thailand, Vietnam, Austria, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong and Guam. Less than 15 percent were Filipinos in the main draw and about 30 percent in the qualifiers.”

Chan said PTA’s success rate in developing players to gain US college scholarships is 100 percent. Since PTA was started in 2011, it has graduated players like Nino Alcantara, Roxanne Resma, Khim Iglupas and Bryan Otico from US schools. Resma and Iglupas are now taking Masters courses in the US. Enrolled at the moment are Iggy Pantino at Loyola Marymout and Shaira Rivera at Alabama. Joewyn Pascua will be attending Savannah College of Art and Design in Atlanta.

“PTA has three satellite camps in Davao, Cagayan de Oro and La Carlota with about 25 players each,” said Chan. “We source our elite program from the satellites. In Manila, we train three to four elite junior players, provide schooling at La Salle Zobel and living quarters in Alabang with tutors then take them to the US on college scholarships. In the elite camp today are Miguel Iglupas who’s 18, Stefi Aludo who’s 16 and Louraine Jallorina who’s 14. Our coach Bobbie Angelo spent 22 years in Japan as a tennis pro and has taken over from Jun Toledo who passed away last September. Jun was our cornerstone from the start and in May last year, two of his PTA proteges Bryan and Iggy played in the PCA finals. Jun was already ill at the time but watched proudly as his boys battled in five sets for four 1/2 hours.”

Chan said with PHILTA’s reinstatement, the Philippines will once more compete in the Davis Cup and Federation (now Billie Jean King) Cup. He said PTA is also open to train players with means but the focus is to elevate those who are less privileged. “Oscar is our prime mover,” said Chan. “Without Oscar and PHINMA, we wouldn’t be able to provide this pathway for our young tennis players. At PTA, we work as a team with Tonico Climent, Felix Barrientos, Raymond Suarez, Hanky Lee, Joey Torres, Andy Maglipon and April Escalona-Toledo. We take the lead from Oscar whose dedication is our inspiration.”