Young players get chance to qualify for French Open

Young Chinese tennis players with a dream of emulating their predecessors and bringing home a Grand Slam trophy will get a chance to play at the highest level when the French Open tournament hosts its third Junior Wild Card competition in China this week.

After similar events in 2014 and 2015, the Junior Wild Card qualification tour's China leg will take place between March 15 and 18 in Shanghai and give young players the chance to qualify for the prestigious Grand Slam tournament held at Roland Garros in Paris.

Players aged from 13 to 18 will take part in the 16-draw boys' and girls' singles tournaments. Winners of the China leg will advance to the final phase held in Paris on May 20 and 21 where they will compete for the boys' and girls' main draw entries against qualifiers from India, Japan, Brazil and South Korea.

The launch of the wild-card tournament in 2014 was a result of cooperation between the French Federation of Tennis and the Chinese Tennis Association after they signed an understanding in 2010 aimed at finding the next Li Na through youth promotion, coach training and clay court development exchanges.

Li, who retired in 2014, claimed Asia's first Grand Slam singles title in 2011 at Roland Garros before winning her second major championship at the Australian Open in 2014.

Chinese youngster Zheng Weiqiang and Zheng Wushuang claimed the boys' and girls' wild card qualifying spots and played at Roland Garros in 2014.

The competition became tougher in 2015 with talented youngsters from Brazil and India joining the hunt for places. Ma Shuyue progressed all the way through the qualifying tournaments and played in the girls' main draw in 2015 while her male counterpart, Lyu Chengze, was defeated in the tour final by Brazilian Gabriel Decamps.

Jean Gachassin, FFT president, said the opportunity offered by the qualifying tournament was massive.

"Words can't express my excitement and satisfaction to see my fellow tennis friends from China following this path," said Gachassin. "The junior wild-card tournament in China is a great achievement which, I hope, we will reproduce for many years.

"The way I see it, we are currently building a bridge between Roland Garros and China. Roland Garros is a tournament to which everybody, wherever they are in the world, can bring their own contribution. It is now time for China to do it and I am sure it will be magnificent."