(Beijing, October 11) Francesco Ricci Bitti, President of the International Tennis Federation, said here on October 11 that to ensure smooth development of the sport of tennis, China should start from 3C, that is "Courts, Coaches and Competitions".

At a press conference held during the "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 ITF Pro Circuit today, the ITF chief commended the progress and achievements made by China in recent years. "We noticed that China has achieved remarkable progress in tennis in recent years, particularly in women's events," he noted. However, he believed that with only ace professional players and high-level competitions the overall athletic level of a country could not be improved on the whole. Generally speaking, he added, there was still much to be improved in the sport here in China.

The ITF President said it is ITF's belief that 3Cs, i.e., Courts, Coaches and Competitions, are the three top priorities to be give by a nation in its tennis development. He cited Beijing's Olympic Green Tennis Center, venue for the "Good Luck Beijing" 2007 International Badminton Invitational Tournament, for example. It is indeed a world-class tennis court which is able to host any large-scale international competitions including the Olympic Games, but he believed how to make such a court accessible to the general public will be the first things first to be considered by the sports authorities in their program for developing the sport in this country.

According to the ITF chief, the ITF will put in as much as four milion US dollars each year to help with the tennis development in countries that have just started the sport. China has also got the energetic support and help from the ITF. Last year, the ITF sent technical officials to China to help with the training of local tennis coaches.

The ITF leader was happy to see that tennis enjoys tremendous popularity in China these years. However, he warned that to get the sport appropriately developed a well-established multi-level competition system should be built so as to enable the players to improve at different levels.