Ly Hoang Nam won 7 pickleball tournaments since taking a break from tennis - Photo: QUOC CUONG
Ly Hoang Nam has always been considered the top hope of Vietnamese tennis every time he enters a major tournament. At the age of 28, the Tay Ninh player suddenly announced his temporary retirement, at a time when no one in the country is close to competing for medals in major tournaments.
Burning passion for tennis
Hoang Nam has not officially announced his complete retirement, but the fact that he stopped playing professional tennis to focus on the emerging sport of pickleball for more than half a year now and has not set a date for his return has raised concerns about the void this tennis player will leave behind.
Hoang Nam did not receive formal training from a young age. He came to tennis after picking up balls during matches. Gradually, Nam developed a burning passion for this expensive sport.
To overcome the difficulties caused by the family's limited financial conditions, Ly Hoang Nam's parents took him to Binh Duong to practice from Monday to Friday every week and then picked him up. After many years of traveling and competing away from home, it was not until he was 9 years old that Nam began to be noticed by experts in youth tournaments. The U10 championship in Nha Trang at that time marked the beginning of the prodigy in the Vietnamese tennis world.
Hoang Nam finds new joy in pickleball - Photo: TTO
In the following years, the young man Ly Hoang Nam continued to advance. At the age of 15, Nam demonstrated outstanding courage, endurance, and quick reflexes compared to many of his peers. He dominated every domestic tournament he participated in, continuously winning the age-advanced championship (U14 champion at 12 years old, U16 champion at 14 years old, U18 champion at 16 years old).
To Wimbledon boys doubles championship
Hoang Nam only needed one shot to make his mark and become Vietnam’s top tennis player. The 1997-born player is the first Vietnamese tennis player to make a name for himself at the prestigious Grand Slam tennis tournament, when he won the junior men’s doubles championship at the 2015 Wimbledon Championships.
With this feat, Nam rose to 375th place on the ATP rankings - the highest achievement ever by a Vietnamese tennis athlete.
In 2019, Ly Hoang Nam won the SEA Games, bringing home the gold medal for Vietnamese tennis in the men's singles event after 52 years of waiting. The joy was even more complete when at the 2021 SEA Games in Vietnam, he successfully defended the gold medal. It was these consecutive victories that contributed to increasing the strength of the country's tennis movement at that time.
Ly Hoang Nam is the number 1 tennis player in the history of Vietnamese tennis - Photo: TTO
Hoang Nam's talent and courage make many people admit that Nam is a rare case in the country's tennis world. Nam always has a thirst for competition and victory.
Coach of the Vietnamese tennis team, Truong Quoc Bao, affirmed in 2024: "At this time, it is not easy for Vietnamese tennis to find a special factor like Ly Hoang Nam."
In 10 years of playing professional tennis, Hoang Nam has always maintained his position as the number 1 tennis player in the country, the leading hope of this sport. When mentioning Vietnamese tennis, everyone will think of the name Ly Hoang Nam.
While young tennis players are still far from reaching this level, Ly Hoang Nam has decided to switch to pickleball, looking for a new challenge. On March 19, Hoang Nam said he would temporarily stop playing tennis to switch to pickleball.
Hoang Nam has not been at his peak in tennis recently. However, his decision to temporarily stop his professional career still leaves a big gap in Vietnamese tennis.
Source: https://tuoitre.vn/ly-hoang-nam-va-khoang-trong-de-lai-cho-quan-vot-viet-nam-20250319174447427.htm
Comment (0)