Ly Hoang Nam won for the first time against a top 200 player in the world
Currently, Wu Tung Lin is 129 places higher than Ly Hoang Nam on the ATP table. In the most recent confrontation, the Taiwanese player won 6-2, 7-5 in the semi-finals of Matsuyama Challenger 80 in 2022.
This year, Wu had a moment to climb to 158th ATP and competed in the preliminary round of all four Grand Slams, including the second qualifying round at Wimbledon. He lost to world number 120 Aleksandar Kovacevic 1-2 in the first qualifying round of the US Open, then moved to China for the Shanghai Masters 100 and was ranked as the 5th seed.
Before meeting Ly Hoang Nam, Wu Tung-Lin struggled to beat China's Fajing Sun 7-6, 3-6, 6-2. This afternoon's match took place like the last meeting, when Wu took advantage of his kicking ability to dominate. Hoang Nam was broken in game six with two hits before losing 3-6. In five games where Wu served, Nam only won points five times.
The positive factor is that the Vietnamese player is more confident than before, plays persistently and is ready to attack with difficult shots. Besides, he had nine direct serves compared to Wu's two in the whole match.
In the second set, Hoang Nam won the second game to catch the ball with a forehand close to the line to score the decisive point. In game four, when Wu made two mistakes, the Vietnamese player tipped the ball over the lead 40-0, then won the game to catch the ball for the second time. Hoang Nam made no mistake to win 6-1.
In the third set, Hoang Nam got better and better, and Wu kept making mistakes. In the third game, the Taiwanese player made the third double serve error in the match, letting Hoang Nam win the game to catch the ball and lead 2-1. This is also a turning point for the Vietnamese player to win 6-2.
Winning 2-1 in the end, Ly Hoang Nam defeated a player in the top 200 ATP for the first time, and also reached the quarterfinals of a Challenger 100 tournament for the first time. This is a great encouragement for Hoang Nam after more than half a year of continuous losses. early in the Challenger tournaments.
In the quarterfinals of Shanghai Masters 100, he will face the winner of the pair Mikalai Haliak (Russia) with number two seed Yosuke Watanuki (Japan). The achievement of reaching the quarterfinals helps Hoang Nam certainly gain 20 more points on the ATP board, along with 3,570 USD in prize money (about 85 million VND).
