Vietnamese tennis ace advances to quarterfinals of Egypt tournament

By Hoang Nguyen October 14, 2021 | 10:28 pm PT

Ly Hoang Nam, Vietnam's number one tennis player. Photo by Vietnam Tennis Federation

Ly Hoang Nam continued his fine form by advancing to the quarterfinals of M15 Sharm El Sheikh after defeating an Italian opponent Thursday.

Nam, 781st in world rankings, faced Francesco Vilardo (766th). The Vietnamese star started strong and exploded with power to quickly end the first set with a 6-0 win.

In the second round, Nam kept the momentum going and led 3-0. Vilardo’s effort helped him gain back some points but Nam stayed focused and won 6-4 in the second set, wrapping up the game.

This victory took Nam to the quarterfinals, where he will face the winner of the game between Belarusian Erik Arutiunian (unranked) and France’s Nathan Seateun (741st).

After nearly two years without competing internationally, Nam was eliminated from the first M15 Sharm El Sheikh but in the second tournament, beat another Italian, Biagio Gramaticopolo (1156th) before defeating Vilardo.

After helping Vietnam advance in the Davis Cup tournament last month, Nam has been in Egypt since Sept. 28 trying to improve his current world ranking, which has dropped to 781 after peaking at 385 in 2018.

According to plan, Nam will stay in Egypt to compete in the multiple M15 tournaments from October to November.