P3M Gentry Open lures top local and foreign players at the CDSA in Bulacan

SAN JOSE DEL MONTE, BULACAN — The second Gentry Open officially opened today at the Colegio de San Agustin Tennis Stadium, bringing together more than 1,600 registered players for 11 days of competition and putting a bigger spotlight on the future of Philippine tennis.

The tournament runs from August 20 to 30 and returns considerably larger than its inaugural edition. This year’s event carries a ₱3 million prize pool and the theme “Building the Future of Philippine Tennis,” with competitions covering men’s and women’s singles and doubles, professional-amateur doubles, club doubles and junior events.

For Gentry Open founder and tournament owner Hayb “Pareng Hayb” Anzures, the size of this year’s field is already a sign of how quickly the tournament has grown.

“11 days is really not enough,” Anzures said during the tournament’s second official press conference on Wednesday.

The expanded field includes some of the country’s familiar names, among them AJ Lim, Eric “Jed” Olivarez, Francis Casey Alcantara and Ruben Gonzales.

The competition will also have an international element, with players from India, New Zealand and Thailand joining the field.

That international participation gives Filipino players an opportunity to face opponents they might otherwise have to travel abroad to meet. For the younger competitors in particular, the tournament provides a chance to see the level and variety of tenni outside the usual local circuit.

The junior events are an important part of that picture. Rather than limiting the tournament to established players, Gentry Open has created space for younger competitors to experience a large-scale competition alongside some of the country’s best-known players.

The organizers have also pointed to the rise of Alex Eala as an example of what Filipino tennis players can achieve when given opportunities to develop and compete internationally. Her success has brought renewed attention to the sport, while tournaments such as the Gentry Open provide a more immediate platform for players still working their way up.

The tournament’s growth can also be seen in the support behind it.

This year’s Gentry Open has attracted a larger group of private-sector partners, including Honor Philippines, Beauty Elements Ventures, Philippine Bottling Beverages, Palawan Group of Companies and Sky Warrior Philippines. The additional support has allowed organizers to expand the services available to players during the tournament.

A satellite gym has been set up at the CSA Tennis Stadium through a partnership with Armonyx Fitness Gym, while Cristalino Spring are providing hydration and Kojie.San, Defensil and Danarra are extending personal-care support for players. The player’s lounge also features a recovery zone, where massage chairs from Zion Philippines are made available for the athletes.

The prize money remains one of the biggest draws. The men’s singles champion will receive ₱400,000, while the women’s singles champion will take home ₱200,000, with prize money distributed across the tournament’s different divisions.

But the organizers are looking beyond this year’s winners.

The Gentry Open has already received Grade A status in the Philippines, and organizers have discussed plans to continue the tournament in 2027 while looking at ways to bring in more international players and pursue further tournament accreditation.

That gives this year’s edition a significance beyond the trophies that will be handed out at the end of the competition.

For a professional player, the tournament is another chance to compete for a title and prize money. For an aspiring junior, it can be a chance to measure their game against stronger opponents, experience the atmosphere of a major domestic tournament and understand what the next level of competition looks like.

That is part of what Hayb Anzures wants the players to take away from the event.

“I want especially the athletes to be inspired,” he said ahead of the tournament.

The second Gentry Open now begins with a field that is larger, more diverse and more competitive than its first.

For the next 11 days, the courts in Colegio San Agustin in San Jose del Monte will determine who takes home the titles. What the tournament leaves behind for Philippine tennis may take considerably longer to measure.