Tennis legend Roger Federer said on Wednesday a male Chinese star would be a huge boost to the game across Asia and he hopes one will emerge in the next decade.
The Swiss world number two said China's women had enjoyed notable success in 2008 in singles in the form of Zheng Jie and Li Na.
China's women's doubles players have also enjoyed Grand Slam and Olympic success in recent years.
But the top male player, Bai Yan, is ranked a lowly 540 in the world and China have just seven men in the world's top 1,000.
Tennis player Roger Federer of Switzerland waves as he arrives for an exhibition match in Kuala Lumpur November 18, 2008.[Agencies]The 13-time Grand Slam champion said: "I really hope that ... China will get a player soon, especially on the men's side because on the women's side you have some good players already."
"I think it would be very nice to see as well on the men's side not only here in China but all over Asia," he added.
"A great player, that would definitely help to raise the popularity of the game here," he said.
Federer said that in a country China's size -- it is the world's most populous nation with more than 1.3 billion people -- it was likely that a major player would emerge and he hoped it would happen in the next 10 years.
Source: China Daily/ Agencies
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