Van Assche avenges Lyon loss to Musetti, reaches first Masters 1000 QF

Two weeks ago in Lyon, Luca Van Assche lost to Lorenzo Musetti in a three-hour-plus quarter-final that ended at 1:17 a.m. On Thursday at the Rolex Paris Masters, the 22-year-old Frenchman got his revenge. Van Assche beat Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 to reach the first Masters 1000 quarter-final of his career, and on the day the rest of the French contingent went out, he was the one home player left standing.

Holding his nerve at 4-4

The match came down to two games late in the deciding set. With the score at 4-4, Van Assche went down 15-40 on his own serve. He saved both break points and held. In the next game, Musetti was serving and Van Assche broke him.

Serving for the match, Van Assche went up 40-0 and finished on his first match point with a drop volley, a fitting way to win given how much touch both players had shown across the afternoon. Musetti had come back strongly to take the second set, but he couldn't turn that momentum into a third-set lead.

"It was a childhood dream to play on a Court Central like this," Van Assche told the crowd, as reported by Tennis Majors. "Now it's here, but I dreamt of it, and today to win in front of you is incredible."

From outside the top 150 to the last eight in Paris

Van Assche grew up in Paris and watched the tournament as a child, which makes the run all the more personal. He started the season ranked 164th and came into the week at No. 47. He has now won three matches at a tournament where he had never won one before. He opened with a 6-3, 7-5 win over Mariano Navone without dropping serve, then beat 15th seed Learner Tien 7-6, 6-4 after saving nine break points.

The quarter-final run should lift him to a new career high. Reports put his projected ranking at No. 39 or better for Monday.

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His win came on a tough day for French tennis. Arthur Rinderknech lost to Ben Shelton in a final-set tie-break, Quentin Halys went down to Tommy Paul, and sixth seed Arthur Fils was beaten by Taylor Fritz. That left Van Assche as the last Frenchman in the singles draw.

Musetti's Paris week ends

For Musetti, the defeat ends a strong stretch. The Italian, ranked 24th, won the title in Lyon two weeks ago. In Paris he beat Hubert Hurkacz in two tie-breaks and then knocked out Alexander Zverev 7-6, 6-2 in Zverev's first match as world No. 1. Against Van Assche, though, he couldn't find his best level when the third set got tight.

Next up: qualifier Hijikata

In Friday's quarter-final, Van Assche faces another surprise name: Australian qualifier Rinky Hijikata. Hijikata beat Novak Djokovic earlier in the week and then came from a set down to beat Tomás Martín Etcheverry 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. Their match is the second on Court Central, after the all-American quarter-final between Shelton and Paul, which starts the day session at 2 p.m. A win would put Van Assche into his first Masters 1000 semi-final, at the tournament he grew up watching.