We love this game

THE KEEN interest in the recently concluded Manila leg of the International Premier Tennis League was not at all surprising.

Tennis is a game Filipinos have loved through the years. From the time the sport was introduced in membership clubs and in schools throughout the islands, we have developed a fondness for this fast-paced, action-filled game. It also satisfies our yearning for heroes and a game where the scoring is fast although amusingly complicated to the first-time tennis watcher or player.

Tennis continues to be played by folk of all ages. When I played the sport more actively in the 1990s, I enjoyed hopping over to the UP courts where there was a game always waiting or the pulot (ball boys) would be ready to give you a workout.  Pulot boys learn the game as young ball boys first and then they become hitting partners.  They soon call them “trainers” sometimes but that’s an argument of a title not worth pursuing.

So that’s why when Andy Murray, Maria Sharapova and other current stars were reported to be coming to Manila for a unique team tennis event, fans were clearly intrigued and went to the MOA Arena to catch their favorites. And the superstars were going to play: It wasn’t a Grand Slam event where they would go all out to win for all the monetary and historic reasons.  But the IPTL was good enough to give local tennis lovers a taste of international fare.

These fans knew their tennis. Aside from playing the game at one time in their lives, fans stay up late at night to watch the Australian, Wimbledon, French and US Opens.  In the same way football faithful follow club games and the World Cup, tennis fans will find a way to stay awake and watch.

This should be a cue for future investors to consider tennis in the Philippines as financial opportunities.  As we have recommended as early as 2008, an international tennis event in Manila as part of the pro tour calendar will be a success in the country.  Get the big names as IPTL did and people will defy traffic and save up for a big tennis event. We already have the MOA and the Smart Araneta Coliseum that are far bigger venues than the PhilSports Arena and the Ninoy Aquino Stadium where some international tennis exhibitions were staged in the 1990s.

We look forward to the next big tennis event in the country that will keep Filipinos’ love affair with this intriguing and fascinating sport alive and well.

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May the Lord’s force be with the “Skywalker.” I was at broadcaster Mico Halili’s birthday bash last Friday when colleagues Quinito Henson, Richard del Rosario, Jason Webb, Carlo Pamintuan and Polo Bustamante shared the news about the sudden collapse of PBA legend Samboy Lim in an exhibition game.

Many of my followers on Twitter now understood it when I would compare volleyball phenom Alyssa Valdez to the Skywalker.  This was based solely on audience impact.  These two great athletes can titillate a crowd as early as the player introductions and then deliver sterling performances.

We are one with basketball fans everywhere in wishing Lim, a quiet but fiery competitor, a speedy recovery.

Follow me on Twitter@sportssev