Thien avoids tournament duck
HCM CITY — Nguyen Hoang Thien progressed to the second round of the Men's Futures international tennis tournament after beating Chinese Zhu De-Long 2-0 in HCM City yesterday.
Thien, 17, who got a wild card entry into the main draw, beat Zhu 6-2, 6-4 to score his first win in the tournament in three attempts.
Thien broke serve three times in the first set as Zhu struggled with unforced errors and double faults. He closed the set 6-2 with a forehand winner.
Zhu started strongly in the second set with heavier serves but Thien managed to break in the fifth game to lead 3-2. Both players then held service until the score reached 5-4 with Thien serving for the match.
A wide forehand from Zhu and a good volley helped Thien to 30-0 but the Chinese levelled 30-30 after his opponent hit wide.
Zhu then hit a forehand into the net and another long to hand his first win.
"I am happy with the way he played today," said Nguyen Ngoc Minh, Thien's father.
Thien will face fifth seed Isaac Frost of Australia or Dominik Schulz of Germany, who face each other today.
Do Minh Quan, another Vietnamese wild card, also entered the second round after stunning fourth seed Hiroyasu Ehara of Japan 6-2, 6-4.
Ly Hoang Nam, 15, a third wild card, lost 6-2, 6-3 to Mateo Marfia of Italy. — VNS