 |
Vietnam's top-ranked tennis player Ly Hoang Nam |
In the first appearance at the prestigious Challenger 100 Road to the Rolex Shanghai Masters tennis tournament, the top-ranked Vietnamese tennis player clinched a victory in the initial qualifying match, maintaining their aspirations of progressing to the main tournament, commencing on September 3 in China.
The Road to the Rolex Shanghai Masters Challenger 100 offers 100 ranking points to the winner, marking it as the most prestigious tournament Ly Hoang Nam has entered to date. Prior to this, the tennis player from Hai Dang Tay Ninh Tennis Club had exclusively taken part in Challenger 75 tournaments or those of lower caliber.
Due to the tournament's high caliber, featuring numerous players ranked within the top 100 globally, including Christopher O'Connell from Australia (ranked 69th) and Watanuki from Japan (ranked 85th), Ly Hoang Nam, currently ranked 417th worldwide, is required to compete in the qualifying rounds. These preliminary rounds consist of 24 players, with only six of them earning direct entry into the main round.
Even though he has not found success in recent Challenger tournaments, Ly Hoang Nam's choice to step up his game and participate in higher-level events like Challenger 100 demonstrates his determination to test his abilities and evaluate his performance. Through this decision, the tennis player from Tay Ninh Province seeks to expand his horizons. Going back to compete in ITF World Tennis Tour M15 and M25 events solely for ranking points would be viewed as a step back in his development. Only by challenging himself in higher-level tournaments can Ly Hoang Nam accurately assess his current skill level.
In the opening qualifier match, Ly Hoang Nam was seeded as the 6th seed and competed against Kaito Uesugi from Japan ranked 1,075th in the world. The match kicked off with a lot of excitement as two players continuously took breakpoints from each other. Initially, the top-ranked Vietnamese tennis player secured the first point in the games when his Japanese opponent was serving. However, Kaito Uesugi swiftly retaliated to claim the break and level the score at 1/1.
 |
Ly Hoang Nam has not performed well since the beginning of 2023. |
Once again, Ly Hoang Nam capitalized on his excellent serve returns to continue winning games in Kaito Uesugi's service, taking a lead of 2/1. However, thereafter, Hoang Nam did not allow his opponent to gain break back, completing the first set with a score of 6/4.
When the second set was level at 1-1, the Japanese player requested the referee to halt the match due to health reasons. Therefore, Ly Hoang Nam officially won with a score of 2-0 and advanced to the decisive match tomorrow, where he will face the winner of the match between Hanwen Li (China) and Kalovelonis (Greece).
