Hoang Nam wins in reverse at Matsuyama Challenger 80
After losing 1-2 to Tatsuma Ito in the first round of Yokohama Keio, Hoang Nam (251st in the world - ATP) continued to face another Japanese player. Sugita is currently ranked 1121st in the ATP, but is seasoned with 17 times in the main round of Grand Slams. This 34-year-old tennis player once stood the highest - 36th - 2017.
Hoang Nam started well in set 1 when he won break game 6. In the next game, despite two attempts to save the break, he still couldn't keep the serve game. The two players struggled and had to go to the tie-break series. When the score was 5-5 in the tie-break series, Sugita had a quality strike along the line, not giving Hoang Nam a chance to save the ball, and then won the match 7-5.
Undeterred, Hoang Nam continued to gain an early advantage when he broke Sugita's 3 serve game. He overcame a difficult moment in game 6, before leading 5-3. In the decisive game, Sugita showed signs of giving up to focus on the next set to help the Vietnamese player win the final 6-3.
In the third set, the two players firmly grasped the serve, bringing the score to 4-4. Game 9 was dramatic when the home player three times missed the opportunity to win a break, including a difficult backhand situation where the ball went close to the string but went out, causing Hoang Nam himself to have a heart attack. In game 10, thinking that Sugita would win when he was leading 40-0, Hoang Nam suddenly rose to equalize and won the decisive break.
Winning the final 2-1, Ly Hoang Nam entered the second round of Matsuyama Challenger 80. He certainly got seven more points and 860 USD (about 21 million VND) in prize money. This is the second time the 25-year-old player has reached the eighth round of a Challenger 80 tournament. In 2018, he defeated Nam Ji-sung of South Korea at the Kobe tournament also in Japan.
Hoang Nam will meet the winner of the Shuichi Sekiguchi – Koki Matsuda pair in the second round tomorrow, November 8. If he makes it to the quarterfinals, he will achieve the best record of his career in the Challenger 80s.
