Ly Hoang Nam lost to an opponent nearly 500 places lower.

Australia Vietnam's number one tennis player Ly Hoang Nam lost 1-2 to world number 1032 Jumpei Yamasaki in the first round of the M25 Gold Coast tournament.

Hoang Nam is 469 places higher than Yamasaki in the ATP professional rankings. The two players, both born in 1997, have met once before at the Vietnam F6 Futures tournament, where Hoang Nam won 2-0.

In the rematch on November 28, despite losing the serve game at the beginning of the first set, the Vietnamese player quickly regained control of the match and showed his class to win two breaks and lead 5-2. At this time, heavy rain fell on the Gold Coast, causing the match to be postponed until this morning, November 29.

Vietnam's number one tennis player Ly Hoang Nam. Photo: VTF

The match resumed with Yamasaki serving and the two players tied at 40-40, but a foul and a double fault from the Japanese player helped Nam get the third break to win the first set 6-2. However, the postponement of the match affected Hoang Nam's excitement for the rest of the time.

Yamasaki's serving was not good in this match, but Hoang Nam did even worse, committing six double faults throughout the match. In the second set, the Vietnamese player lost his service games in games one, three, and five. His efforts to win the receiving games in games four and six were not enough for Nam to bring the set back to a tie, so he had to accept a 4-6 loss.

In the deciding third set, after both players held their serve to 2-2, Hoang Nam made a double fault, lost confidence and lost the fifth game. The Vietnamese player claimed the break back in the next game but once again made the same serve fault in games seven and nine, thereby losing 3-6.

This is the third time in 2023 that Ly Hoang Nam has stopped in the first round of a tournament in the M25 system. Before that, he lost to George Loffhagen - a British player 457 places lower, 0-2 at M25 Mysuru in India at the end of March. In mid-June, Nam lost to Orel Kimhi - an Israeli player 314 places lower - 1-2 at M25 Nakhon si Thammarat in Thailand.

After a year of continuous competition in ATP and Challenger tournaments, Ly Hoang Nam returned to the ITF system but his best results were reaching the quarterfinals at M25 Hua Hin (Thailand) and M25 Brisbane (Australia). From 244th at the beginning of 2023, Ly Hoang Nam dropped 319 places to 563 on November 27.

Besides Ly Hoang Nam, young talent Vu Ha Minh Duc also participated in M25 Kalaburagi in India. The 20-year-old tennis player ranked 1,845th in the ATP rankings won two consecutive matches to qualify for the main round of M25 for the first time without a wildcard. However, Minh Duc stopped when he lost 1-2 to home player Kabir Hans.

Hieu Luong

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