Nguyen Thuy Linh wins opening match of 2024 Paris Olympics

Thuy Linh had 17 match points, and she successfully capitalized on the first point, with a deep backhand drive, causing Tiffany to make a mistake and miss her backhand. When the match ended, many fans at the Porte de La Chapelle stadium applauded Thuy Linh. The Vietnamese female tennis player responded with a bright smile and raised her hand in thanks.

Thuy Linh is currently ranked 26th in the world women's singles rankings, 65 places higher than Tiffany. And in the match starting at 2am on July 30, Hanoi time, the Vietnamese player completely outplayed her opponent.

Thuy Linh sent the ball all over the court, dropping it in the high corner, causing her opponent to fall flat but still unable to save the ball, winning 11-5 before the break in the first set. The coach came out to talk a lot, encouraging her, but Tiffany's performance after that was not any better. The Australian player hit two consecutive shots out, one of which went over the net. She helped Thuy Linh have the longest winning streak in the first set, 6 points.

The Vietnamese player served early in the first set and led until the end, impressing Tiffany with her diving shots, smashing hard along the line, and dropping serves that made her opponent lose momentum and stumble. She easily ended the first set with a score of 21-6.

In the second set, Thuy Linh played even better. She continuously had shots in the two corners of the court, making it difficult for her opponent to move, along with long-range shots or tricky squeezes. Vietnam's number one female tennis player made her opponent hopeless when she continuously scored points, leading 10-0. Fans at the Porte de La Chapelle stadium applauded loudly when Tiffany scored the first point, narrowing the gap to 1-10. But that did not help the Australian tennis player improve. In the whole set, she only scored 3 points, and accepted a quick defeat.

Thuy Linh started the 2024 Paris Olympics smoothly with a victory. She will play her next match on July 31, against Chinese-American player Baiwen Zhang, ranked 11th in the world.

Thuy Linh was born in 1997 in Phu Tho. This is the second time the number one female tennis player of Vietnam has participated in the Olympics.

At the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, despite being in a difficult group, Linh achieved positive results. She won 2-0 against Xuefei Qi (France) and Sabrina Jaquet (Switzerland) and only lost to world number one Tai Tzu Ying - who later reached the final and won the silver medal.