Advantages for Vietnamese tennis at 2021 Davis Cup

The Vietnamese team will have advantages in realising their promotion goal at this year's Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III as Vietnam have been selected as the hosts of this tournament and most likely will be given a high seed ranking.

The Vietnamese tennis team at the 2020 Davis Cup World Group II play-offs in Morocco. (Photo: VTF)
The Vietnamese tennis team at the 2020 Davis Cup World Group II play-offs in Morocco. (Photo: VTF)

According to the Vietnam Tennis Federation (VTF), the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has decided to select Vietnam as the hosts for the 2021 Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Zone Group III, which is scheduled to take place from June 16-19 at the Hai Dang Tennis Club in Tay Ninh City, the capital of the southern province of the same name.

As the hosts, the Vietnamese tennis team (ranked 71st in the world) will compete with eight other teams, including Hong Kong (China, ranked 68), Syria (ranked 76), Sri Lanka (78th), Kuwait (110th), Qatar (111th), Jordan (120th), Pacific Oceania (122nd), and Malaysia (127th place).

According to the COVID-19 preventive regulations, international teams will have to perform a 14 day quarantine upon arriving in Vietnam, before joining the tournament.

The Vietnamese team has yet to identify their direct competitors, as the ITF and the Davis Cup Organising Committee have yet to announce the date for the tournament’s group stage draw. However, according to the ITF rankings, the Vietnamese team will most likely be ranked 2nd seed if the current rankings do not change from now until the official draw.

Vietnam last hosted the Davis Cup Asia/Oceania Group III in Hanoi in 2018, finishing on top that year without losing any round. However, in 2019, the ITF had a change in the Davis Cup format, forcing the Vietnamese team to play again in Group III in Singapore. Vietnamese players then successfully completed their goal of being promoted to Group II in 2020, as they once again finished on top after four victorious series.

However, in 2020, they missed out on a place in World Group II after falling 4-0 to hosts Morocco in the play-offs, and must now play Asia/Oceania Group III again in 2021, aiming to bounce back and earn themselves a spot in next year’s World Group II play-offs.

The core of Vietnamese tennis participating in this year's tournament are all the best domestic players, including Vietnam's No.1 player Ly Hoang Nam, Trinh Linh Giang, Le Quoc Khanh, Pham Minh Tuan, Nguyen Van Phuong, Vu Ha Minh Duc and Nguyen Dac Tien, led by captain - coach of the national team Truong Quang Vu.

Currently, the Vietnamese players are in their training phase. The four players to represent the country at the 2021 Davis Cup tournament will be officially announced in May.