Who among the top pickleball players will carry Vietnamese tennis?

The Vietnamese Davis Cup team has suffered consecutive defeats, raising the risk of Vietnamese tennis falling to Group IV. Young players are not yet ready to shoulder the responsibility as their seniors switch to the pickleball.

Vietnamese tennis is on a downward trend - Photo: VTF

On the afternoon of July 19th, the Vietnamese Davis Cup team will play a Group III relegation play-off match against the Sri Lankan tennis team. The losing team will be relegated to Group IV Asia-Oceania.

A warning sign for Vietnamese tennis.

This year, the Vietnamese tennis team will participate in the 2025 Davis Cup Group III Asia-Oceania region without several well-known players. While Ly Hoang Nam withdrew from the Davis Cup in 2024, this year Truong Vinh Hien has also decided not to participate. The team is left with only Nguyen Van Phuong.

Therefore, the Vietnam Tennis Federation (VTF) had to organize a selection tournament to choose 3 out of 7 players to form the Vietnamese Davis Cup team for the tournament in Bac Ninh from July 14 to 19. Young players like Pham La Hoang Anh and Nguyen Minh Phat have little international competition experience.

While Dinh Viet Tuan Minh and Vu Ha Minh Duc lack the experience to carry their younger teammates, the only hope rests on the ability of the most seasoned player, Nguyen Van Phuong, to spring a surprise.

The two losses to Thailand (0-3) and Saudi Arabia (1-2) were within the coaching staff's expectations. However, the 0-3 defeat against the Singapore tennis team is certainly a step backward. This is the first time Vietnam has lost to Singapore in the Davis Cup, indirectly sending the host nation into the relegation play-off.

It's very difficult for a player born in 2006 like Pham La Hoang Anh, as he was always chosen to play first in both men's singles matches. Van Phuong will find it hard to make an impact against Pawit of Thailand. And Nguyen Minh Phat was impatient in his two doubles losses against Thailand and Singapore.

Ly Hoang Nam (right) and Trinh Linh Giang "come back to life" thanks to pickleball - Photo: KMT

Loss of life in the pickleball wave

The main reason for the decline of Vietnamese tennis is easily identifiable as the absence of top players. Even without mentioning Ly Hoang Nam, there are still Trinh Linh Giang, Truong Vinh Hien, or even the overseas Vietnamese player Huynh Thien Phuc.

More fundamentally, the aforementioned players were absent or unwilling to participate because they were busy. Most turned to pickleball to make a living, refresh their image, and rebuild their personal brand—things that tennis had been unable to offer them for so long.

Over the past year, the shift from tennis to pickleball has become increasingly strong. Ly Hoang Nam was initially hesitant, but he has now become a brand ambassador.

Linh Giang has just "unveiled" her new racket after winning the PPA Asia Tour at the Malaysia Open 2025.

Amateur pickleball tournaments, which invite top Vietnamese pickleball players to compete, always attract a significant number of viewers both live and online. However, watching Vietnam's Davis Cup matches until midnight can be a real challenge for viewers.

Who will "carry" Vietnamese tennis, not only in the 2025 Davis Cup, but also in the long term, to revive one of the once trendy and attractive sports ?

The answer will likely depend on the efforts of the federation's leaders. And this task will certainly not be easy.

QUANG THINH

Source: https://tuoitre.vn/cao-thu-choi-pickleball-ai-ganh-quan-vot-viet-nam-20250719000137203.htm