‘I belong on this stage now’: Hawaii’s Andre Ilagan reflects on historic US Open bid

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – All-time University of Hawaii tennis great Andre Ilagan put up a valiant effort at the U.S. Open qualifying tournament in New York.

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Ilagan became first Hawaii player to compete at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in Flushing Meadows.

“I think it just showed that I belong on this stage now,” Ilagan told Hawaii News Now.

He didn’t just participate — he won his first-round match, marking another first.

“It’s a privilege, the pressure behind it is obviously amazing because I think pressure is a privilege, so yeah, just enjoying it again,” Ilagan said. “I think at the end of the day, just give my everything and that’s all you can ask.”

Even though his time at the U.S. Open didn’t last as long as he’d hoped, Ilagan is pleased that the training that he and his coach have been doing is starting to pay off.

“I come from Hawaii and he’s also from Hawaii and so like we’re just trial and error with it and we’re just going our way about it,” Ilagan said. “Just happy to finally realize like, OK, what we’re saying is actually right.”

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Ilagan reflected on his first major tournament of his career with crowds of fans cheering him on as he represented his home state and his Filipino heritage.

“I had a huge crowd from the Filipino side and a couple of Hawaiian people that I didn’t even realize like hearing it from the outside, I was just like oh this is pretty crazy,” Ilagan said. “I’m trying to tell the story a little bit more just because I think it’s pretty cool.”

The Farrington High School graduate has traveled a long road on the court after initially picking up tennis simply as a means to get to college.

Now he’s setting his sights on not only playing, but paying it forward to the young tennis players in the state.

“Can I maximize everything I can do and then hopefully give it back to the next generation here in Hawaii?” Ilagan said. “That’s my main thing.”

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