TENNIS legend Boris Becker and Mission Hills Group on Saturday launched the Boris Becker Junior Series in a bid to boost tennis in China and help nurture the country’s next generation of stars.

    The Boris Becker Junior Series will travel to a minimum of six cities across China during 2017, starting with the first leg in Shenzhen at the Mission Hills Country Club on Saturday. The six-time Grand Slam winner Becker himself will host the Grand Final, which will also be held at Mission Hills in November.

    “I am passionate about helping young tennis players to develop and it is my great hope that we can uncover China’s next generation of tennis stars and set them on their way to becoming Grand Slam contenders,” said Becker, a former world number one.

    Following the opening tournament, the Boris Becker Junior Series will travel across the country to cities including Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Wuhan and Xi’an. Tournaments will be open to boys and girls of all tennis abilities from both China and overseas, aged 14 or under.

    The top players will enjoy a once-in-a-lifetime training camp with the German ace immediately following the Grand Final. They will also receive membership to the Boris Becker Tennis Academy at Mission Hills, opened by the sporting icon in 2016 and the first of its kind in the world.

    “We are excited to build on our partnership with Boris, which started last March with the opening of the world’s first Boris Becker Tennis Academy here at Mission Hills and continued with the launch of the world’s first Boris Becker and Lawn Tennis Association Coach Accreditation Scheme in the summer,” said Tenniel Chu, vice chairman of Mission Hills Group, which boasts Asia’s largest tennis facility at its Shenzhen resort.

    “The Boris Becker Junior Series is another step towards unearthing the next Li Na, male or female, and we thank Boris for his continued friendship, commitment and support,” Chu said. (SD News)