Ly Hoang Nam wins his first ATP Challenger match in Kazakhstan. — Photo VTF

The top Vietnamese player defeated Aldin Setkic of Bosnia & Herzegovina 6-4, 3-6, 6-4 in the 136-minute match.

It was predicted to be a difficult match for Nam who sits at No 417 in the world as his rival is No 350 and was previously ranked No 165.

However, 1.75m-tall Nam was confident against his 1.91m rival from the beginning.

He quickly won a break point in the third game and maintained his lead till the end of the set.

The second set saw a double fault from 22-year-old Nam, which cost him a game. His great effort did not help him level the score.

In the third set, both Nam and Setkic played equally in the first eight games.

Nam made it 5-4 when he took the serve and continued to win the 10th game after a double fault from the 32-year-old Setkic.

It was Nam’s first time taking part in an ATP 110 event after competing in the Challenger events.

This high-level tournament will deliver a total of US$135,400 to successful athletes.

In the second round, Nam, who earns five points for his first win, will play No 9 seed Goncalo Oliveira from Portugal.

VNS