A senior international tennis official believes China will be able to become a true powerhouse like Russian or the US by taking advantage of the Beijing Olympics.
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China's Guo Yue celebrates a score when playing against Wang Chen of the US during the women's preliminaries of the World Team Table Tennis Championships in China's southern city of Guangzhou February 26, 2008. [Xinhua]
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Barbara Travers, the International Tennis Federation (ITF)'s director of communications, said the upcoming extravaganza is China's best chance so far to squeeze into tennis' top ranks.
"Does China have what it takes to become the next Russia? Yes, I think so," said Travers, who has directed two Olympics since the Sydney Games.
"The Beijing Olympics will bring China focus and a lot of coverage and attention. It will be a great opportunity to make the country a real superpower in the world."
The Games' tennis events will be staged at the Olympic Tennis Center in Beijing from August 10 to 17. It will be the most prestigious tournament ever held in the city, which also boasts the China Open.
Olympic tennis, which returned to the Games in 1988, is playing a bigger role in the professional world as many top players, including Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Justine Henin and Maria Sharapova, have committed to coming to Beijing in August.
To add to the professional atmosphere, the Beijing Games will also be the first Olympics equipped with Hawk-Eye, the electronic reviewing system that has become a staple on the pro tour.
"I am happy to see more professional players join the Games and take it really seriously," Travers said. "It is a very important event on tennis calendars right now. This is a trend - the Olympics is a goal for everybody who plays professional tennis on ATP or WTA.
"The Olympics have something that other tournaments do not have. For example, Chilean people were driven crazy when Nicolas Massu won Chile its first gold medal in the country's history at the Athens Games. That's the charm of the Olympics."
The ITF has a long history of working with the Chinese Tennis Association (CTA). Their latest collaboration, "China Project", started in 2000 with ITF supplying equipment and setting up coaching clinics in Beijing and Shanghai.
Travers was struck by the amount of passion people have for the Olympics here, but she said more needs to be done if the sport is to continue to grow after the Games.
"One Olympics is not enough," she said. "The Chinese Tennis Association needs to build on it and put more effort to let tennis reach as many people as possible.
"But it takes time, it won't happen overnight. There might be some years you cannot find a prospect like Li Na or Peng Shuai, but you have to keep on investing and giving your players opportunities to play internationally.
"So we will continue to build a potential base together with CTA and encourage them to establish more grassroots events and make kids love tennis."
In 2007, Beijing won the rights to host a nine-day elite WTA tournament, becoming one of four cities hosting elite events on a 20-tour top-level calendar in 2009. The Olympic Tennis Center will be the home of the new WTA event.
Other mandatory women's stops will be in Madrid, Miami and Indian Wells, California.
