HÀ NỘI  — Top Vietnamese tennis player Lý Hoàng Nam was ousted from the first round of the men’s singles of the Hưng Thịnh Vietnam Open 2017 in HCM City on October 24.

Nam, world No 546, lost to No 5 seed and world No 159 Go Soeda of Japan 4-6, 1-6.

Thirty three-year-old Soeda has played in four Grand Slam events. He previously reached 47^th place in the world rankings.

Although Nam had to face a strong rival from Japan, he played very confidently in the first set, with the support of fans on home turf. He made fans even jump for joy when he narrowed the gap to 4-5. However, with better skills and experience, Soeda eventually won the first set 6-4.

In the second set, the Japanese rival completely controlled the game and easily beat Nam 6-1.

This evening, Nam and Sumit Nagal of India will face the duo of Chinese Taipei’s Ti Chen and Australian Max Purcell in the men’s doubles first round.

Two years ago, Nam teamed up with Nagal to win the Junior Wimbledon doubles crown, becoming Việt Nam’s first-ever Grand Slam junior champion.

Earlier, Vietnamese Pham Minh Tuấn and Trịnh Linh Giang were also eliminated from the event’s first round.

The tournament is part of the 2017 ATP Challenger Tour, with total cash prize of up to US$50,000 and 90 points being awarded to the champions in both the singles and doubles categories.

The week-long competition has lured top ranked athletes, including former Junior Grand Slam champions, Taylor Fritz from the United States (world No 99, seed No 1), Yuki Bhambri from India (world No 146, seed No 4) Mikhail Youzhny from Russia (World No 126, seed No 2) and 2015 Vietnam Open winner Saketh Myneni. — VNS