Tennis

Nam achieves new global rank

Lý Hoàng Nam reached another milestone in his career after being placed at 870 in the world ranking for tennis.

This is his highest ever position and a new record amongst all other Vietnamese players.

Nam’s ranking was improved by his last-16 berth at the Japan F3 Futures in March.

The 19-year-old player has set a target of entering the world top 500 this year.

He will travel to China to join 15 other athletes competing at the 2016 International Tennis Federation Junior Masters at the Sichuan International Tennis Centre in Chengdu on April 8-10.

The world’s leading young players, eight males and eight females, qualified for the event on the basis of their 18-and-under ITF Junior World Ranking at the end of the year.

The ITF Junior Masters, now in its second year, consists of two knock-out singles events, with each player guaranteed three matches to determine their final finishing position. Players will compete for a total prize fund of US$160,000 in travel grants. Each player will earn a minimum travel grant of $7,000, while the boys’ and girls’ champions will both be awarded $15,000 travel grants.

This year’s winners will succeed the inaugural champions: Andrey Rublev of Russia and China’s Xu Shilin.

In the 2015 finals, Rublev overcame Taylor Fritz of the United States, while Xu defeated Slovakia’s Kristina Schmiedlova.

The draws for both events will be held on April 6.

The Masters is one of the premier junior events on the 2016 ITF calendar, alongside the ITF junior team competitions, the 14-and-under ITF World Junior Tennis competition, and the 16-and-under Junior Davis Cup and Junior Fed Cup.

Nam and other athletes will take part in a mentoring programme provided by the ITF during the competition week. The programme will emphasise the transition to professional tennis and focus on training, competitiveness and the development of mental strength.

This is one of many ways in which the Masters will assist these top juniors in transitioning from junior tennis to the professional level. – VNS