Ly Hoang Nam aims to be in the top 100 pickleball players in the world

The handshake that brought Ly Hoang Nam to compete in pickleball - Photo: KMT

After a long period of not competing in tennis, Ly Hoang Nam has recently suddenly emerged and appeared more often with a pickleball racket promoted by a Vietnamese brand.

Because of this support, Ly Hoang Nam boldly announced that he would temporarily stop playing professional tennis to switch to pickleball, which gave him the motivation to shine once again.

Nam said: "I always want to challenge myself. Something a little difficult motivates me because I always set high goals.

Many people don't think I can achieve anything in tennis. But I want to prove that I can and the same goes for pickleball."

Switching from tennis to pickleball, the athlete born in 1997 quickly caught up and is in the group of top professional pickleball players in Vietnam.

Hoang Nam won the men's doubles event at the 2025 National Pickleball Championship, and stopped in the quarterfinals of the under-35 men's singles.

"With tennis, entering the world's top 100 is very difficult, but with pickleball, I believe it can be done," said the player who has a DUPR score of 4.6 in men's singles and 5.4 in mixed doubles.

Answering about the future and preparing for the 33rd SEA Games in Thailand with Vietnamese tennis, Hoang Nam left his goal open: "Tennis is a part of my life. Therefore, I cannot use the word "quit tennis". At this time, I find pickleball suitable for high-level competition, but I will wait for the right time for tennis."

Ly Hoang Nam temporarily stops playing tennis to focus on pickleball - Photo: KMT

Ly Hoang Nam’s decision to temporarily stop playing professional tennis has also received mixed reactions from the public. However, the Tay Ninh native feels that the pressure is normal.

"I'm not afraid of pressure because Vietnamese fans have high expectations of me in tennis. Switching to pickleball is not simple.

To be number 1 in Vietnam and Asia requires a lot of effort and my goal is to achieve that result," said Ly Hoang Nam.

Ly Hoang Nam said his toughest opponent could be Huynh Thien Phuc (Phuc Huynh) - the 2025 national champion in the men's singles under 35 years old category recently in Ba Ria - Vung Tau .

Currently, Ly Hoang Nam's schedule for invitational tournaments is full until May 2025. He will take advantage of this period to compete with top Asian and international players.

In the near future, the number 1 tennis player of Vietnam intends to go to the US for 2 months to train and interact with the top players of PPA (Professional Pickleball Association).

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QUANG THINH