Following Alex Eala’s WTA 125 stint, the Felicisimo Ampon facility sees a booking surge—but is the ₱1,000 price tag out of bounds?
Filipino tennis players are rushing to secure slots as public access to the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex facility reveals strong demand for the sport.
The Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) has opened reservations for the Felicisimo Ampon Tennis Court, a world-class venue that hosted the WTA 125 Philippines Women’s Open earlier this year.
The price of premium tennis courts
Rates are ₱600 per hour (from 6AM to 5PM) and ₱1,000 per hour (from 5PM to 10PM), with four courts available per time slot. Even so, availability has tightened quickly, with only limited April slots remaining. The whole month of May is already fully booked.
Meanwhile, the pricing has drawn mixed reactions, with some players noting that public courts in the United States, Malaysia, and India cost as low as ₱150 per hour. Others argue the fees are reasonable given maintenance costs and the facility’s competitive standard compared to private courts in Metro Manila.
While Rizal Memorial provides high-quality venues, facilities remain concentrated in major cities, highlighting the limited access to tennis infrastructure nationwide.
The infrastructure gap: Beyond Metro Manila
The bottleneck at Rizal Memorial highlights a larger issue in Philippine sports: concentration. While Manila-based players enjoy access to refurbished world-class venues, tennis infrastructure remains sparse in the provinces, as access to high-quality hard courts is a luxury largely confined to the capital.
Calls are growing for local government units (LGUs) in Visayas and Mindanao to invest in public courts. Lowering costs and expanding access is seen as the only way to move from “elite hobby” to true “grassroots development.”
Excerpt: Want to play where the pros do? Rizal Memorial’s Felicisimo Ampon courts are officially open for public reservations, but high demand and ₱1,000 hourly rates are stirring a racket among local players.
Want to play where the pros do? Rizal Memorial’s Felicisimo Ampon courts are officially open for public reservations, but high demand and ₱1,000 hourly rates are stirring a racket among local players.
