Luca Van Assche Paris Masters 1000 tennis, Digi Mart USA News (Paris): Reporting from the Plénitude Arena, 20 Minutes described Luca Van Assche’s 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 win over Lorenzo Musetti in the third round of the Paris Masters 1000 as a major result. Musetti had just beaten world No. 1 Alexander Zverev in straight sets, making the French-born Van Assche’s victory a surprise on home soil.
The match was a revenge win for Van Assche, who had lost to Musetti in three sets at the Lyon tournament about ten days earlier after a battle of more than three hours. Former French player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga told the publication that Musetti was likely to be wary of Van Assche’s growing ability to find solutions, calling him an increasingly established player who will keep progressing.
Van Assche, 22, is expected to enter the top 40 in the rankings. His path has been uneven since he won the 2021 Roland-Garros Juniors title by beating Arthur Fils in the final.
After a quick entry into the top 60 at age 19, he fell beyond 230th in the world by the end of 2025.
Van Assche said he went through periods of doubt. “These are periods of doubt, not easy, especially since I was used to not facing difficulties,” he said after his win.
“I was asking myself questions about what I wanted to do.”
Tsonga said Van Assche had returned to the top 100 quickly, dropped out, and then rebuilt through the Challenger circuit, which he described as an important experience. This year Van Assche won four Challenger titles in Quimper, Lille, Parma and Quebec, along with his first ATP title in Estoril.
His coach, Sébastien Villette, said a change in mindset helped drive the comeback. “He needed to rediscover pleasure on the court and in his work,” Villette said.
“He needed to be fulfilled in what he was doing.”
Musetti, who had played Van Assche at the 2024 Australian Open second round, said his opponent had improved considerably, particularly with his serve. “He served super well today, saving break points and complicated situations in the third set,” Musetti said.
“He served at 215-218 km/h, which surprised me.”
Van Assche’s serve helped him hold at 4-4 in the final set and then break Musetti’s serve. Villette said serve development had been a focus since they began working together a year ago.
Van Assche also said he wanted to be more aggressive rather than only returning the ball into play. “Many people consider me just a solid player, but with matches and experience I know that just getting the ball back into play is not enough,” he said.
Van Assche will face Australian Rinky Hijikata, a qualifier, in the quarterfinals on Friday.
