Poev Vireak
Poev Vireak knows the road ahead is going to be tough, but he dreams of breaking into the top 100 of the ATP rankings in the future.
The 16-year-old is among the players from 20 countries confirmed for the 30th edition of the Tep Khunnah Memorial Cup, an ITF J30 event taking place at the Morodok Techo Tennis Complex starting this Saturday.
“I was ball boy at the Cambodia SEA Games and I said wow look at the quality of tennis of these players,” said Vireak after his training session at the Olympic Tennis Courts.
“I wanted to be as good as them and do better,” added the effervescent youngster.
No Cambodian have ever made it to the top 100 of the ATP rankings ever. The highest ATP singles ranking ever achieved by a Cambodian player was No. 995, reached by Bun Kenny three years ago.
Many may look at this as a dream too far, but Vireak wants to put in the work on the courts to achieve his dream.
After all, one his tennis idols, the legendary Roger Federer, was also once a ball boy himself.
Federer worked as a ball boy at the Swiss Indoors in his hometown of Basel. He went on to become a multiple Grand Slam champion and one of the most successful players in the history of the sport.
“Federer and Carlos Alcaraz are my idols,” said Vireak, who represented the Kingdom at both the Davis Cup Group III in Hanoi and the Junior Davis Cup in Kuching earlier this year.
His father Chea Poeav, who was the Cambodian Davis Cup captain, has also been instrumental in Vireak’s budding tennis career.
“My dad is a former player and coach. I was introduced to the game when I was only four,” said the Grade 11 student at the Khmer High School.
His younger sister Saran has also taken up tennis while it is only a matter of time before his youngest sister Rachana follow suit.
Vireak was initially coached by Long Samneang and he is currently training with another national tennis player – Chhinda Som, in preparation for the Tep Khunnah Memorial Cup.
Vireak said that he decided to take up tennis seriously and train daily when he was nine.
“I was short and chubby and wanted to shed that and tennis was my choice to reinvent myself,” said Vireak.
Having family support, especially from his dad, has motivated Vireak to excel in the sport.
The top ATP 100 ranking and winning in internationals may be what he hopes to achieve in the future, but for now, he has his feet firmly on ground.
“My target here is to collect some points to get into the ITF rankings,” said Vireak, who was given a wild card for the tournament.
The Tep Khunnah Memorial Cup, has been a regular event in the Tennis Cambodia calendar, in honour of the late tennis legend, who is also father of current Cambodia Tennis secretary general and ATF Vice President, Tep Rithivit.
The Cup is an integral part of the efforts of the federation to continue to grow the sport at both the local and international stage by bringing world tennis to Cambodia.
Tennis Cambodia hopes to motivate and inspire talented Cambodian players, like Vireak, to one day compete on the big stage.
Apart from Cambodian players, the tournament will also see junior players from Malaysia, Singapore, China, Hong Kong, Chinese-Taipei, South Korea, Indonesia, India, Vietnam, Japan, Great Britain, Norway, Brunei, Russia, Sri Lanka, Australia, New Zealand, Austria and Bangladesh.
