Nam breezes through in Indonesia
Vietnam's Ly Hoang Nam continued with his winning streak at the Indonesia F1 Futures tennis tournament, easy defeating host player Anthony Susanto 6-3, 6-1 on April 1 in Tarakan City.
It took him about an hour during the men's singles first round match to win. He will be playing Kelsey Stevenson of Canada next, who had cruised into the second round after his rival Matias Franco Descotte retired.
However, Nam lost in the doubles event on March 31, where he was paired with Jirat Navasirisomboom.
The Indonesian tournament was one of events that Nam took part in to collect points to ensure a berth in the main round of the French Open's junior circus, which will be held in May.
The Vietnamese, who is ranked 32nd in the world junior rankings, had earlier entered the third round of the January Australian Open's junior competition, the best in the history of Viet Nam.
He won a double titles at an ITF Group I tournament in Malaysia before helping Viet Nam enter the Davis Cup's Group II next season last week.
"I have improved my play, especially my serves a lot under coach Brydniak Christian. He also helps me raise my self-confidence during competitions," Nam said.
"This is the first time I have realized such an important achievement, which makes me think if I have exceeded my ability. I think I have been playing my best tennis ever," Nam said.
The 17-year-old also said he was ready to compete among the Association of Tennis Professionals from 2016.
"I know how professional tennis was when I played at the junior Australian Open. All athletes are experienced in both their daily lives and on the court."
"It is totally different from what I was familiar with earlier. I have to try my best in the next Grand Slam for young players this year and will travel to Europe for intensive training, as well as take part in more Men's Futures tournaments to prepare for the ATP event." Nam said, adding that in the Indonesian competition he had set the target of entering the third round and would perform his best in every match.
Nam is also preparing to participate in the junior French Open at Roland Garros, which he said has clay fields, which he found difficult to play on last year.
"I was stopped at the qualifying stage in 2014. However, the harder the job, the more determined I am to overcome it. I want to at least enter the third round like I did in Melbourne," Nam said, adding that he wanted to compete in all the four Grand Slams this year.