Vietnamese top tennis player Nguyen Hoang Thien has been ranked 534th in the world, by the International Tennis Federation.

This is the highest a Vietnamese tennis junior player has ever occupied in the world rankings.

Thien,14, cruised into the quarter-finals of the Rushbrooke International Tennis Federation U-18 tournament in Ireland last month.

Last October, Thien, from Ho Chi Minh City, climbed to the top of the Asian Tennis Federation’s U-14 rankings after winning the ITF Under-18 crown in southern Binh Duong Province.

The 14-year-old also added two singles titles at the Asian U-14 Championships in Bahrain and the Asian Juniors Circuit Tennis Tournament in India.

In a bid to improve his world rankings, the rising star went on a training course with leading American coach Roy Coopersmith, who trained Serbian star Jelena Jankovic in 2006. (VNS)