The young Frenchman Luca Van Assche (86th in the world) qualified for the second round of the ATP 175 tournament (Challenger, clay) in Aix-en-Provence on Tuesday, unlike Benoît Paire and Alexandre Muller who were eliminated from the start. first round.
A few days before his 19th birthday, Van Assche dominated the Portuguese Joao Sousa, ex-28th world player back down to 162nd place, during the 1st round of the Challenger of Aix-en-Provence. The young Frenchman won 6-4, 6-7 (2-7), 6-1. He will face in the next round his compatriot Adrian Mannarino, 46th player in the world and seeded number 3 in Aix.
Pair and Muller out
With his success on Tuesday, Van Assche confirmed his good form and current progress. Two weeks ago, the young Frenchman took a set from world number 1 Novak Djokovic at the Banja Luka (clay) tournament in Bosnia and Herzegovina. He had beaten the Swiss Stan Wawrinka in the previous round. In the next match, Benoît Paire was beaten in straight sets by the Belgian David Goffin.
The Frenchman (161st at ATP) had three set points in the first set, finally yielding to the decisive game. He then completely lost track of the match and Goffin quietly won 7-6 (7-0), 6-1. In the next round, the Belgian will face the Swede Mikaël Ymer. The other French Alexandre Muller, 94th in the world, also lost against the Finn Otto Virtanen with the score of 7-6 7-6.