French player Luca Van Assche reaches first Masters 1000 semi-final in Paris
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The gist
French world No. 47 Luca Van Assche beat qualifier Rinky Hijikata in Paris to reach his first Masters 1000 semi-final.
The win lifts him to No. 34 and leaves him as the last Frenchman in the draw.
Background
Luca Van Assche is a 22-year-old French player ranked No. 47 in the world, and the last Frenchman left in the Paris draw. Before this edition he had never won a main-draw match in Paris, losing in the first round in 2023 and in qualifying in 2021 and 2025. He has climbed from 172nd to a live ranking of 34th in a year, a rise of 138 places, after a long period of injuries that forced him to modify his playing style and change his forehand. He won the only ATP title of his career in Estoril in July 2026, beating Andrey Rublev along the way.
How it unfolded
- Nov 5, 2026Van Assche beat Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in Paris to reach the first Masters 1000 quarter-final of his career, converting his first match point with a drop volley.
- Nov 6, 2026He beat qualifier Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5 in 2 hours and 44 minutes on Court Central at the Plenitude Arena, coming back from 2-0 down in the decider, to reach his first Masters 1000 semi-final.
- Nov 6, 2026The win was set to take him into the top 35, at No. 34, up 13 spots this week; a tournament win would leave him 23rd and guaranteed the second highest-ranked French player.
- Nov 7, 2026Van Assche faces third seed Ben Shelton, who beat Tommy Paul 6-4, 4-6, 6-3, in the semi-final at 2:30 p.m. local time at the Plenitude Arena in Nanterre.
Key terms
- Masters 1000
- An annual series of nine elite ATP tennis tournaments ranked below the Grand Slams and year-end championships.
- qualifier
- The final stage of a tournament featuring all accepted players, as opposed to qualifying rounds.
- seed
- The practice of separating the most skilled competitors in a tournament bracket so they do not meet in early rounds.
Source: Wikipedia
Who’s saying what
- Player
- Van Assche said he was a bit tired after an incredible match, praised Hijikata as an incredible player with great wins this week notably against Djokovic, and said he was happy to have turned the situation around and to win in Paris.
- Player
- Looking ahead to Shelton, Van Assche said he will need to do better tomorrow to trouble him, but that he is going to enjoy this win.