Currently ranked 225th in the world junior rankings, Viet Nam's top tennis player Nguyen Hoang Thien has secured a spot at the 36th City of Florence International Tournament in Italy that starts on April 20.

The clay court grade two event will draw the world's leading young players including Slovakia's Lukas Lacko, Yaraslau Shyla of Belarus and Nik Razborsek of Slovenia.

Thien said he would be competing in a series of events during his time in Europe in a bid to climb the International Tennis Federation (ITF) Juniors rankings.

Thien, who has climbed from 234th to 225th following eight wins and three losses in ITF tournaments this year, will compete in five more Grade 2 tournaments and two Grade 1 events organised by the ITF this season.

In February, the HCM City youngster won the doubles titles at the Malacca International U18 Junior Championship in Malaysia and the Tennis Central U18 ITF Summer Championship in New Zealand.

Thien also became the first Vietnamese player to take part in the Australian Open U18 Tournament this year./.