>>> Nam wins first Challenger-level match at Vietnam Open 2016
Ito, who once held a place in the world’s top 60, is currently 509 places above Nam in the ATP rankings. The 28-year-old previously made it into the second round of a Grand Slam tournament and possesses a collection of six Challenger and seven Men’s Futures titles.
Meanwhile, Nam has only one individual Men’s Futures title, which was won at the recent Vietnam F5 Futures in Binh Duong province last month.
With such a large gap in level and experience, it came as no surprise that the Vietnamese ace conceded a 2-6, 1-6 defeat to the Japanese opponent after 87 minutes of play.
Despite failing to advance, Nam has added eight accumulated points to his world rating by surging past the first round of the 2016 Vietnam Open and is closer to making it into the world’s top 600 in the next ATP rankings.
Next up for Tatsuma Ito will be a quarterfinal clash against Japanese fellow Yasutaka Uchiyama.