Viet Nam’s young tennis talent Nguyen Van Phuong proceeded to the third round of boys’ singles at the 2018 Seogwipo Asia/Oceania Closed Junior Championships on Wednesday in South Korea.

Phuong is playing well in his final international junior tournaments before progressing to the senior professional level next year. 

In the first round, Phuong, number 70 in the ITF Junior Rankings, overcame Kim Sunwoo from South Korea, ranked 2,001, 2-0 (6-3, 6-1). In the second round, he beat Daisuke Inagawa from Japan, 1,053 in the raking, 2-0 (6-1, 6-2).

The 17-year-old’s rival in the fight for a place in the quarterfinals on Thursday will be Australian Dane Sweeny, 83 in the rankings. A challenge is waiting for Phương since Sweeny was previously in the top 50 juniors.

Phuong is currently playing his final matches in international junior championships before moving to professional tournaments next year when he turns 18. — VNS