The Viet Nam Tennis Open Da Nang 2019 is taking place at the city’s Tien Son Sports Arena until 12 January. This the first time Da Nang has hosted such an international tennis tournament.

Viet Nam's top tennis player Ly Hoang Nam defeated his rival Daniel Altmaier 2-1 on 6 January.

This year’s tournament has seen the participation of 48 professional tennis players who compete in the men’s singles and doubles for cash prizes worth up to 55,000 USD in total.

Amongst the participants, 36 are the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP)’s high-ranked players, including Marcel Granollers from Spain ranking 96^th in ATP rankings, Yuki Bhambri from India 137^th, Saketh Myneni also from India 260^th, Matteo Viola from Italy 292^th place, and Teymuraz Gabashvili from Russia 369^th.

In addition, 4 of the competitors are the International Tennis Federation (ITF)’s high-ranked players, 5 others have been awarded wildcard entries, 2 are winners of qualifying rounds, and one is in special case.

Top Vietnamese tennis players, namely Ly Hoang Nam, Le Quoc Khanh and Trinh Linh Giang, are amongst 5 wildcard recipients.

Ly Hoang Nam with his teammate Le Quoc Khanh will play in the doubles, whilst Trinh Linh Giang and Vietnamese-American Daniel Nguyen will also register for the doubles event.

Participating players will earn precious points from winning matches at the tournament in order to improve their ATP’s rankings.

In particular, the men’s singles winner will walk away with 7,200 USD and earn 80 points in the ATP rankings, whilst the double title victors will get a cash prize of 3,100 USD and 80 points each.

In the opening matches of the tournament, Viet Nam's top tennis player Ly Hoang Nam, who currently places 385^th in the world, beat the 370^th-ranked player Daniel Altmaier from Germany 2-1 in the men’s singles category.