ĐÀ NẴNG — A new face from HCM City’s Hưng Thịnh team stole the limelight on the third day of the VTF Pro Tour 3 – 3rd Open Viettravel Cup 2018.

Vietnamese-American Chanelle Vân Nguyễn, 24, defeated Fodor Csilla in convincing fashion in the first round of the tournament, dropping just two games.

Ranked 630th on the Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) Tour, Chanelle is the first seed at the tournament, while Csilla was the champion at the VTF Pro Tour 1 in Vũng Tàu this year.

Chanelle started confidently, winning the first three games.

The humid weather wore her down quickly, allowing Csilla to win the next two games and come within 2-3. But Chanelle’s strength and stability helped her capture the next three games and take the first set, 6-2.

Csilla asserted herself on defence in the second set, but while that worked against Tiffany Linh Nguyễn in the final round of the VTF Pro Tour 1, she was still overwhelmed by Chanelle, who pulled away 6-0 to win the match and move into the second round.

Another highlighted match was the encounter between Trần Ngọc Quốc Vinh and Ngô Quang Huy from Hải Đăng Tây Ninh and the People’s Policeman team of Hoàng Thành Trung and Ngô Đức Dương.

Trung and Dương started strong, winning the first set 6-4.

However, Dương showed signs of injury in the second set, causing him to make a number of errors and putting all the pressure on Trung. The pair of Vinh and Huy took advantage to win the set 6-2 and even the match at one set apiece.

The tie-break was a thriller, with the two sides continuously scrambling to get the lead. At 9-9, the Tây Ninh pairing broke Trung and Dương and held serve to win the set 11-9, and enter the next round.

Other top seeds who moved on to the following round were Trịnh Linh Giang, who dominated Từ Ngọc Nhựt, 6-1, 6-1, and Phạm Minh Tuấn, who beat Trần Tiến Thịnh from Hưng Thịnh via a 6-2, 6-0 drubbing. Vũ Artem from Becamex Bình Dương was surprisingly beaten by Tất Thái Nguyên from Hưng Thịnh, 3-6, 5-7.

Quarterfinal action in the men’s and women’s singles events and semifinal matches in men’s and women’s doubles will continue next day. — VNS