Tennis legend Roger Federer said Wednesday a male Chinese star would be a huge boost to the game across Asia and he hopes one will emerge in the next decade.

The Swiss world number two, winding down his season at an exhibition tournament in Macau, said China`s women had enjoyed notable success in 2008 in singles in the form of Zheng Jie and Li Na.

China`s women`s doubles players have also enjoyed Grand Slam and Olympic success in recent years.

But the top men`s player, Bai Yan, is ranked a lowly 540 in the world and China has just seven men`s players in the world`s top 1,000.

The 13-time Grand Slam champion said: `I really hope that... China will get a player soon, especially on the men`s side because on the women`s side you have some good players already.`

`I think it would be very nice to see as well on the men`s side not only here in China but all over Asia,` he added.

`A great player, that would definitely help to raise the popularity of the game here,` he said.

Federer said that in a country China`s size -- it is the world`s most populous nation with more than 1.3 billion people -- it was likely that a major player would emerge and he hoped it would happen in the next ten years.

Federer is ending a gruelling season with an exhibition in Macau Thursday also involving James Blake, John McEnroe and Bjorn Borg.

After Macau Federer takes a well-earned break before the 2009 season, which he gets underway in the Middle East ahead of the Australian Open in Melbourne in January.