Vietnam's tennis team suffered a defeat in their opening match of the 2026 Davis Cup

Vu Ha Minh Duc and his teammates are anticipated to encounter significant difficulties in the 2026 Davis Cup Group III of the Asia-Oceania zone.

The Vietnamese tennis team did not have a favorable start in their opening match of the 2026 Davis Cup Group III of the Asia-Oceania region, which is being held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from July 15 to 18.

In their first match, Vietnam's tennis players faced Saudi Arabia. Before the match, Vietnam held a 3-2 lead in head-to-head encounters, but they had lost the most recent meeting in 2025, and their best results in previous meetings occurred when Ly Hoang Nam—who has now moved to professional pickleball—was still at his peak.

The lack of opportunities for young players to gain experience in professional tournaments has led to Vietnam being underestimated in this year's Group III, especially as regional opponents also bring strong lineups.

The first singles player to lead the charge for Vietnam was Pham La Hoang Anh—a young player who briefly trained in the US and also won one national title this year. Against Saud Alhogbani (ranked 2,497 in the world), Hoang Anh lost heavily 1-6 in the first set, had a poor start to the second set, but fought hard to regain the break and then forced the set into a tie-break.

Severe physical exhaustion prevented Hoang Anh from causing an upset, as he lost 0-2 with scores of 1-6 and 6-7 (5-7 in the tie-break). After the match, the young player even collapsed at the net and struggled to shake hands with Saud Alhogbani.

The second singles match featured Vietnam's current top player, Vu Ha Minh Duc (world No. 1,860), against Saudi Arabia's biggest hope, Ammar Alhogbani (world No. 1,071). Minh Duc had a great start, winning the first set 6-2, but as usual, physical fitness remained his major weakness. He lost the next two sets 0-6 and 3-6, meaning Vietnam suffered an overall defeat to Saudi Arabia.

The remaining doubles match between Nguyen Dai Khanh/Nguyen Minh Phat and Faisal Alrebdi/Bader Idrees will still be played, but it only matters for tiebreak purposes.

In the next round of the 2026 Davis Cup Group III of the Asia-Oceania region, the Vietnamese tennis team will face Malaysia. Without their top player Mitsuki Wei Kang Leong, the presence of Koay Hao Sheng and Darrshan Suresh is still enough to make Malaysia the favored side.