Roland-Garros: Luca van Assche and Arthur Fils, the succession is impatiently awaited
Forty years after the title of Yannick Noah, Luca van Assche and Arthur Fils approach Roland-Garros by carrying the medium-term hopes of French tennis while the Musketeers Tsonga, Gasquet, Simon and Monfils are gradually bowing out.
>> Tennis: Arthur Fils stops in the semi-final in Montpellier
>> Tennis: Son and Bonzi meet in the semi-finals in Marseille
>> Tennis: Djokovic eliminated by Rune in the quarter-finals of the Masters 1000 in Rome
| Frenchman Luca van Assche during the match against Serbian Novak Djokovic at the Banja Lula tournament on April 19. Photo: AFP/VNA/CVN |
Opponents in the final of the 2021 junior tournament, won by Van Assche, the two hopefuls will enter the main draw directly this year. The junior winner thanks to his ranking in the world Top 100, the finalist having benefited from an invitation.
“It is sure that they will take up the torch soon enough“, estimated Richard Gasquet in May on Eurosport. After the retirements last year of Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Gilles Simon, Gaël Monfils and him remain at almost 37 years old the last two spearheads of French tennis of the 2000s in the running this But time is moving on and their chances at a very high level are inexorably fading.
On the contrary, at just 19 years old – since May 11 – van Assche is at 79e world rank, the highest ranking of his career, and Son is 112e (he reached the 104e place in February) a few days away from celebrating its 19e birthday, June 12.
“They say it always takes time to get into the top 100 in the world. But I think when you’re very strong you get there very quickly.“, according to Gasquet, convinced that they have in them the “true motivation” to enter the Top 10. In terms of motivation, the healthy rivalry between these two friends is likely to pull them “to the top“, Estime van Assche.
“Good spirit”
“We tease each other a little but in a good spirit. And if it allows us to play well both, so much the better. I train very often with him and we know very well that we have about the same level. he declared to The Team a March.
Recruited in December by the French Tennis Federation, Ivan Ljubicic, former coach of Roger Federer, has only one objective: to see a Frenchman lift a Grand Slam trophy. And for the old No3 in the world, van Assche and Son have some “the potential”.
“They are completely different, in character, as people. But I think we may have players there that we can hope for or even succeed, not from 2023 but in the future, something big“, he believes.
Too early this year to succeed Noah, therefore, but convincing results are expected Porte d’Auteuil for these two players in the process of making a place for themselves on the ATP circuit.
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| Frenchman Arthur Fils against his compatriot Benjamin Bonzi in the semi-final of the Marseille tournament on February 25. |
| Photo: AFP/VNA/CVN |
Born in Woluwe-Saint-Lambert in Belgium, van Assche (70kg, 1.78m) is playing the main draw at Roland-Garros for the first time, having failed in qualifying in 2021 and 2022, but he has the experience of a first round this year at the Australian Open.
Half for Son
For his part, Son (1.85 m, 83 kg) is playing the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. He also lost in qualifying in 2021 and 2022 in Paris.
Van Assche was the first of the two to put his name on the list of winners of a professional tournament in 2022: he has four Challenger trophies to date (Lisbon and Maia in 2022, Pau and San Remo in 2023).
He also scored his first victory on the main circuit in April, beating Pedro Sousa (475e) at the Estoril ATP 250. Two high-profile matches followed at the ATP 250 in Banja Luka where he beat three-time Grand Slam winner Stan Wawrinka before taking on Novak Djokovic.
Son, he has a pro trophy to his name (the Oeiras Challenger in January), but he made an impression at the start of the season: at the ATP 250 in Montpellier, he reached the semi-finals by having beat Gasquet, Bautista and Halys before giving in to Sinner. In the process, he played another half in ATP 250 in Marseille where he took advantage of Sinner’s withdrawal in the second round before beating Wawrinka and giving in to Bonzi.
He arrives at Roland-Garros with a first victory in Masters 1000, in Rome where he beat Juan Manuel Cerundolo before being eliminated by Holger Rune.
AFP/VNA/CVN
2023-05-25 02:03:26
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