Cuong storms back to reach semifinal

                                                                                                                                  Hoan Nguyen


Many were already counting him out, but Cuong showed his mettle and more...

After a 6-1 set loss at the hands of Minh Tran last Sunday, not many at the Vietbay Open, except dreamers and charlatans, would have predicted a comeback from the Vietgoogle Champion. He was struggling in every aspect, with lethargy, and with the pace coming from Minh.

He had plenty of time to contemplate that first set loss.

Today Cuong came back rejuvenated and inspired. He probably had a master plan too, but most evident was his hunger to win channeling through his play.

Brilliant Phuong hammers Hai

Hoan Nguyen
Photos courtesy of Minh "Creative" Tran

Phuong produced a magnificent display of clean hitting to defeat Hai 6-2, 6-1 in the Vietbay quarterfinal.

The youngster came out with full confidence to break straight-away in the second game and though Hai pulled it back a bit in the fifth-game, it was not enough. Hai was never treading in calm water. Phuong had him on the back foot, taming his usually deadly slices without much bother and dominating the rallies. He quickly jumped to a 3-0 lead. There were moments when Hai’s play was reminiscent of the player he‘s known for. Unfortunately those were very brief. There were far too many errors coming from his racket in the first set. After breaking Phuong to make it 3-2, he surrendered the next 4 games to lose the first set.

Vietbay Open - Day 4 Report

Hoan Nguyen

The trophy for the Vietbay tournament arrived today, coinciding with the quarterfinal stage of the tournament. Shortly before their matches, the players had a chance to see what will become their possession if they win the next 3 matches. The trophy is spun from sterling silver, with hand-crafted ornaments, including a figure of a tennis player standing. As they were admiring the trophy, Vietbay tournament director Minh TT made a revelation that a whooping third of the money spent on the trophy was due to shipping cost. But that was because the tennis player figure standing on top is in pure 24-carat gold and this made the trophy too heavy.  It's a very beautiful trophy indeed.

The Vietbay Open Is Heating Up

Hoan Nguyen

Vietbay Open Draw

While tennis draws are mostly considered a ceremonial affair, it can be a controversial and amusing one. The drawing for the Vietbay Open 2013 was an example of this—it attracted a lot of attention, and debates, and at one point some players believed they might need to reveal their social security numbers for the draws to happen. We did not foresee this, but it’s reasonable that players have their own concepts of a fair way to draw. And let’s not forget: all players prefer to feel lucky—for one to win such a prestigious tournament as the Vietbay Open, he will need all the luck he can get.

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