Paris (France) (AFP) – Frenchman Luca Van Assche, 47th player in the world, qualified at the age of 22 for his first Masters 1000 semi-final after eliminating Australian Rinky Hijikata, ranked 83rd and qualifying, on Friday in Paris, 6-4, 6-7 (7/4), 7-5.

Published on: 06/11/2026 - 7:30 p.m.

Van Assche, who was already playing his first quarter-final in Masters 1000, will face the American Ben Shelton (seeded N.3 and 4th in the world), winner of his compatriot Tommy Paul (6-4, 4-6, 6-3), for a place in the final.

Crowned in July on the clay of Estoril for the first time on the main circuit (an ATP 250), he is guaranteed, even before his next meeting, to appear for the first time among the 40 best players in the world (34th, i.e. French No. 2).

Van Assche, former junior world No.1, had to draw on his resources to eliminate Novak Djokovic's faller in the second round in 2 hours 45 minutes. The day after a big fight in three sets, already, against the Italian Lorenzo Musetti.

In the final round of this duel of outsiders with long exchanges, he was broken from the start. The culmination of a long slump since the second set where, less aggressive in the game and less solid on serve, he was trailing 3-0 then had to save six break points before losing largely in the tie break (7-4).

Coming back to 2-2 in the last set after notably regaining color on serve (13 aces in total), he then came within two points of the match by leading 5 to 4 and 30-0.

Two winning backhand passes allowed him to lead 6 to 5, before concluding with a shutout, thanks to unforced errors from the Australian (including a double fault) and a new winning backhand passing.

© 2026 AFP

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