(file photo)

A clay-court tennis program of French Open was settled in Changsha’s Moon Island. Citizens will have the chance to watch a host of top tennis tournaments in Changsha in the near future.

On Mar 6, Changsha municipal government and French Tennis Federation(FTF) signed a Memorandum of Cooperation on the program.

FTF is the exclusive owner and an organizer of the French Open. The clay-court tennis program in the Moon Island is proposed to construct 22 clay courts, taking up around 50 mu(about 33333㎡). The first stage of the program is expected to be put into use by the end of this year.

The newly built program will be the home courts of a series of tournaments, including the French Open Masters, ATP and WTA tours, Chinese Tennis Association championships, and Tennis Masters in cities around China.

Chen Zhong, vice Mayor of Changsha, said Changsha had made great progress in building a national city with flourishing sports programs and health industry, which has become the city’s name card.

He said Changsha would take this opportunity to build a top tennis park renowned both in and outside China and enhance exchanges in sports between China and France.

FTF’s vice President Alain Morrow hoped the program could stimulate the development of clay-court tennis in China and be the cradle of top tennis players in China.

Translated by:Wu Qi

Source:Changsha Evening News