>>> Vietnamese tennis star overwhelms Chinese player
Despite his moderate ATP rating of 1,429th, Zhong had been expected to pose certain pressure on world no.913 Nam following his surprising 2-0 victory (6-3, 6-0) over no.5 seed and world no.609 Yecong He of the host country earlier.
The anticipation seemed right as Zhong performed outstandingly beating Nam 6-4 in the first set.
However, the Vietnamese player came back strongly in the second set, equalising the score with a 6-3 win.
With spirit and confidence boosted, Nam only needed 20 minutes to claim an absolute victory of 6-0 in the decisive set, thereby securing his berth in the quarterfinal round.
This result could be considered positive for Nam as the China F1 Futures tournament is taking place on clay, which is not his favourite.
Nam’s quarterfinal opponent will be the winner of the clash between world no.969 Reiwein Sami of Germany and world no.503 Ochi Makoto of Japan.
The China F1 Futures is underway in Yunnan, China from February 15 to 21, offering a total cash prize of US$10,000.
