From our special correspondent at the Plénitude Arena,
It’s great to release the new world number one in two short sets. It’s another thing to face a starving Frenchman the next day in front of your home crowd, even though you’re the favorite. After sending Alexander Zverev back to Germany, Lorenzo Musetti was surprised by Luca Van Assche this Thursday in the third round of the Masters 1000 in Paris in three sets (7-5, 3-6, 6-4). A great revenge for the Tricolore, born in Belgium.
About ten days ago, he was knocked out by the same Italian at the Lyon tournament after another huge battle in three sets and more than three hours of play. “Musetti had finished really, really badly after the match, so we knew that there were possibilities for Luca to find even more solutions,” says former Musketeer Jo-Wilfried Tsonga. He is a player who is increasingly confirmed and who, in any case, will continue to progress and beat great players. »
At 22 years old, Luca Van Assche, who will enter the top 40, is perhaps one of the French people we least expected at this Masters 1000 in Paris, the fault of an evolution far from linear since his title at Roland-Garros Juniors in 2021 by beating in the final… Arthur Fils. A very rapid entry at 19 years old around 60th place, then the fall until being beyond 230th place in the world at the end of 2025.
Van Assche went through periods of doubt
“These are periods of doubt, not easy, especially since I was used to not encountering difficulties,” confided the person concerned after his victory on Thursday. I was asking myself questions about what I wanted to do. » “He takes his own time,” says Tsonga. He was in the top 100 quite quickly, then he came out. He went through the Challenger experience again which, I think, is important, it teaches you a lot of things. »
So much that Van Assche won four titles this year in Challenger (Quimper, Lille, Parma and Quebec) and his first in ATP (Estoril). Crazy results which allowed him to resume his rise that he started at a young age, thanks in particular to a change in mentality. “He needed to find pleasure again on the field and in work,” explains his trainer Sébastien Villette. He needed to be fulfilled in what he did. He's a hard worker and by being fulfilled, he works even harder, even better. »
Our unfortunate witness of the day, Lorenzo Musetti is well placed to see the progress of the fellow, having already faced him two years ago in the second round of the Australian Open. “He has improved a lot, he especially served really well today, managing to save break points and complicated situations for him in the third set,” said the Italian. But it is really in service that he has made progress. It served at 215-218 km/h, that surprised me. »
It is thanks to this weapon that he was able to put an end to the danger that existed at 4-4 in the last set and to be able to immediately take the service of Musetti, who finished the match exasperated. “When we started working together, a year ago, service was one of the areas of work,” underlines Villette, satisfied to see that a journalist highlighted the progress of his foal in the exercise. It took time and it didn’t happen overnight. »
“A misleading image of the slightly frail player”
Better still, thanks to the work undertaken with his coach, Van Assche even managed to get rid of the image of a solid player (read defensively) to send out some well-felt blows. “A lot of people consider me just a solid player, but with matches and experience, I know that just putting the ball in the field is not enough,” he believes. In my game, I have to be aggressive, take advantage of the exchange, and I did it well today. » Sébastien Villette elaborates further:
“We have this somewhat misleading image of the slightly frail player who will be eight meters behind his line and who wears down his opponents until the end. When in fact... We saw it in the first set, he gained speed with his forehand to his opponent by engaging, rejoices his coach. He has a quality of power that means he can compete with the best. Maybe he wasn't using it enough. But I think this quality is really above average for him. »
“Luca, he plays,” adds Tsonga. He fights with his own weapons. He has qualities that others don't have. And then, indeed, he has the height that he doesn't have (1.80 m), but he makes up for it with other qualities. What I like about him is that he is quite unique in the way he does things. He is a player who sticks to the ball. He's behind the ball. It is precise. He plays well. » We hope that the great story will continue on Friday, for his first Masters 1000 quarter-final where he will face the Australian Rinky Hijikata, who went through the qualifiers. There is a very big stake to play.
