Keothavong has the potential to succeed

Departing tennis chief Patrice Hagelauer insists he has laid the foundations for Britain to produce world-class players in the near future.

Hagelauer believes he has done much of the groundwork for success by encouraging the development of youngsters at club level.

And the Frenchman told BBC Sport Online that governing body the Lawn Tennis Association does not necessarily need to look abroad to find his successor.

"I believe there are good people in this country. We have good coaches and I'm sure some of them have the qualities to do this job," said Hagelauer.

"What was important was for me to come with the experience I had to create the structure. I could do that because I had participated in doing it in France.

"The person who comes will be in better position because we have the structure now. To get champions you need to have a lot of talented players at the base."

Hagelauer insists players like Martin Lee, Alex Bogdanovic, Elena Baltacha and Anne Keothavong have the potential to break into the game's upper echelons.

But he warned it could be some time before Britain finds a worthy successor to Tim Henman and Greg Rusedski - or strength in depth for the Davis Cup side.

"I'm confident that if Martin can be fit he's a real potential top 100 player.

This revolution which has been going on in British tennis will continue LTA chief executive John Crowther

"And someone like Bogdanovic, who is just 18, also has the potential to make the top 100 in the next three years.

"I would be surprised if, on the girls' side, players like Baltacha and Keothavong don't get through.

"But I would be more confident if we had two or three Baltachas and two or three Bogdanovics because it's always one out of four or five who make it."

LTA chief executive John Crowther promised to step up efforts to create a bigger pool of talent at junior level.

"This revolution which has been going on in British tennis will continue," said Crowther.

"We have been very fortunate and have had a lot of assistance from the lottery.

"At the moment the lottery is going through a tough time and that income is down, so I will be redoubling my efforts to secure funding from the government.

"Everybody in sport is going after what is essentially the same pot of money. What I must prove is that tennis has got a cogent plan and I think I can do that."