Dad and Marty, you'll be happy to know that I've found a great place to play tennis here in Saigon. It's the Lan Anh Club. They have an indoor court with stadium seating, seven outdoor courts, a squash court, a pool and a fully equipped gym and lockers complete with sauna. It's quite excellent. The courts are all hard surface (just like the US Open). In fact, there is a women's tournament going on right now although didn't catch any of the action. From my limited experience it seems that there's a bona fide tennis culture already established and gathering strength in Vietnam.
An American friend introduced me to the club and set me up with a local pro, Yung. Although Yung's English is pretty much limited to "low to high" (90% of a good stroke) I can see already that playing with him regularly will improve my game a lot. We did some forehand, backhand and volley drills, with Yung modeling the best strokes and showing me what I needed to improve. I think you'd like Yung, Pops, because he tells me the same stuff you do -- don't back up, low to high, and keep my wrist firm on ground strokes. An added bonus to the session was having a ball boy. My friend, who's been in Vietnam for years, told me that he "doesn't even remember how to pick up balls anymore." Sweet.