Viet Nam’s top player Ly Hoang Nam pocketed a first round win at the Viet Nam Men’s Futures F7 tennis tournament yesterday (Oct 17) in Binh Duong Province.

Ly Hoang Nam advances to the second round of the Viet Nam F7 Men’s Futures. — VNS Photo

For Nam it was sweet revenge against Thai rival Kittiphong Wachiramanowong, winning 6-1, 6-4 at the Community Sports Centre.

At the Davis Cup qualification in July, Nam withdrew from the meet because of injury.

At yesterday’s match, Nam, who has moved up 49 places in the world to No. 634, did not experience any difficulty in trouncing his rival, who is world No 1,160.

The Vietnamese won the first three games, serving and stealing a break in the second game to lead 3-0. Wachiramanowong found his opponent’s serves hard to return and Nam easily got his second break point before ending the set 6-1.

Wachiramanowong was much better in the second set. He bagged five aces and one break point. However Nam fought back strongly and earned two break points to win the set 6-4.

Nam will next play the winner of the match between Japanese Ken Onishi and American Gary Kushnirovich.

Thien wins first match at F7 tennis event

Nguyen Hoang Thien defeated higher ranking rival Matthew Brooklyn in the first round match of the Viet Nam Men’s Futures F7 tennis tournament in Binh Duong Province on October 17.

Nguyen Hoang Thien grabs first round win at the Viet Nam Men’s Futures F7 in Binh Duong Province on October 17. — VNS Photo

Host representative Thien, who is world No. 2,005, beat world No. 1,366 Brooklyn of Great Britain 6-3, 6-4, stealing one break in each set in a one hour and 52 minutes match.

His next rival will be the winner between Ahmed Deedat Abdul Razak of Malaysia and Masato Shiga from Japan.

In an earlier match, Trinh Linh Giang of Viet Nam was beaten 3-6, 1-6 by No. 2 seed Laurent Rochette of France.

The nation’s best hope Ly Hoang Nam, who is seeded No. 5 here, will play archrival Kittiphong Wachiramanowong of Thailand.

Nam is No. 634 in the world following his recent success at the F5 and F6 tournaments while Wachiramanowong is No. 1,160.

At their latest meet at the qualification of the Davis Cup, Asia-Pacific zone in July, Nam lost 6-3, 1-6, 0-6 because of an injury.

The F7 event is organised on hard court at the Community Sports Centre. The winners will get prize money worth US$10,000.

VNS