In China, the women have enjoyed all the success in tennis, winning Grand Slam titles, Olympic gold medals and reaching the top 10 in both singles and doubles. Male players, on the other hand, have lagged behind. Despite increased investment and improved resources at home, a mainland Chinese male player has never broken into the top 100 in the rankings. This could be about to change. The 17-year-old Wu Yibing is gaining attention for his all-court game and quick rise up the junior rankings, giving China hope it may someday have a male star on par with the two-time major winner Li Na to help grow the sport even further in the country. Wu's star has been steadily rising in Asia, but it was his performance at the prestigious Orange Bowl tournament in Florida in December that showed how much promise he has. Wu made it all the way to the final, losing to defending champion Miomir Kecmanovic of Serbia. Wu's ranking then shot up to No. 3 and he was the top seed at the Australian Open boys' championship - his highest seeding at a junior major tournament. He lost Friday in the semifinals to Yshai Oliel of Israel 6-4, 3-6, 6-2. "I think it's tough to be top seed," he told reporters in English at a packed news conference (another first). "I think it's so many things different and I have to be more focused and more confident." Wu, who goes by the English name Jason, started playing tennis at the age of 4 in his hometown of Hangzhou, a city in eastern China. His mother, Wu Fang, said she took him to play badminton at a park, but the net was too high for him so they decided to try a nearby tennis court instead. Wu showed potential, though, so when he was 12 years old, he went to Beijing to train at the Potter's Wheel International Tennis Academy run by Carlos Rodriguez, the former coach of Li Na and Justine Henin. Wu is hoping he can develop a game similar to his idol, top-ranked Andy Murray. He hasn't met the three-time major winner yet, but if their paths cross, he knows what he would say.

"I love you," he says with a laugh. "And how can you hit a backhand that fast?"