Members of a tennis club at Sichuan University pose for a picture with Zheng Jie and Yan Zi (sixth and seventh from left, second row), two Chinese tennis stars, after the opening ceremony of the Ninth EMBA Tennis Master Competition of Famous Chinese Universities. [Photo by Huang Zhiling/chinadaily.com.cn]

The Ninth EMBA Tennis Master Competition of Famous Chinese Universities started on Saturday at the Sichuan International Tennis Center in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province.

Drawing 29 teams from 21 famous universities in different parts of the country, the two-day event is part of the celebration marking the 120th anniversary of Sichuan University's founding.

Since 2008, the EMBA Tennis Master Competition of Famous Chinese Universities has been held nine times, with the aim of boosting the fitness of EMBA students from famous Chinese universities and promoting national fitness, organizers say.

According to Tan Xuejun, chief of the Chengdu Sports Bureau, Chengdu now has more than 1,500 tennis courts since the city's first was built 100 years ago.

"Each year, more than 1 million people in the city play tennis," she said.

The three-day second ITF Junior Masters concluded in Chengdu in April and the nine-day 2016 International Challenger Chengdu came to an end more than four months later as the first professional ATP tennis tournament held in the city.