Gullas Tennis Cup set for major comeback

Sports

ONE of the country’s biggest tennis tournaments is set for a major comeback as the Gullas Tennis Cup will be ending a seven-year hiatus when it stages its 24th edition on October 17-20.

The comebacking tournament will be held in two venues in Cebu City–at the Alta Vista Golf and Country Club in Barangay Pardo and Citigreen Tennis Resort in Barangay Punta Princesa.

The tournament was last held in 2018, and in its return, several changes meant to elevate the experience of both players and spectators will be introduced.

Tournament organizers that included University of the Visayas (UV) Board of Trustees member John Vicente Gullas, UV AVP for Admin and Finance Jose Miguel Gullas, long-time tournament supporter JT Gullas, former Cebu City Sports Commission Chairman John Pages, and tournament director Jun Tabura discussed the trouanemtn’s return in a press briefing on Thursday, June 26.

Pages said Gullas Cup, which is sanctioned by the Philippine Tennis Association (PHILTA) as a Group 2 category tournament, is out to help develop grassroots talents in the hopes of producing another Alex Eala.

While Eala was not able to compete in the Gullas Cup after she was recruited by the Rafael Nadal Tennis Academy, the tournament has managed to attract some of the country’s brighter tennis players.

“We had Francis Casey ‘Niño’ Alcantara play in the Cup when he was just 12. That shows the level of talent we’ve been able to attract,” Pages said.

Jose Miguel emphasized that the relaunch of the tournament is a way of honoring the legacy of their family's in Philippine tennis.

Jose Miguel said it was his grandfather, Jose "Dodong" Gullas, who organized the tournament as part of his commitment to the development of grassroot sports.

John Vicente marveled at how the tournament grew through the years.

“We started back in 1995 at the Cebu Country Club courts. It was just an exhibition then. When we last held it in 2018, it was the only tournament outside Manila to be granted Group 1 status by PHILTA,” he said.

The return of the tournament will also honor Fritz Tabura, the longtime tournament director who recently passed away.

“This year, we’re also honoring the legacy of Fritz Tabura by giving an award named after him to the most outstanding male and female players of the tournament,” said Jose Miguel.

The tournament will feature 10 singles categories such as 10-under unisex, 12-under boys and girls, 14-under boys and girls, 16-under boys and girls, and 18-under boys, and girls.

Registration opens in July with fees set at P400 for a single entry and P700 for two categories.(CCM)