Luca Van Assche (born 11 May 2004) is a

Belgian Belgian may refer to: * Something of, or related to, Belgium * Belgians, people from Belgium or of Belgian descent * Languages of Belgium, languages spoken in Belgium, such as Dutch, French, and German *Ancient Belgian language, an extinct languag ...

-born French

tennis Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent ( singles) or between two teams of two players each ( doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball ...

player. Van Assche has a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 137 achieved on 12 December 2022. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 344 achieved on 3 October 2022.

Junior Career

Van Assche won the 2021 French Open Boys' Singles title, defeating fellow countryman

Arthur Fils Arthur Fils (born 12 June 2004) is a French professional tennis player. Fils has a career-high Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) singles ranking of world No. 260, which he achieved on 7 November 2022. He also attained his career-high ATP ...

in the final.

Professional career

2022: Professional, ATP & Major doubles debuts, Maiden Challenger & top 150

In January, Van Assche made his ATP main draw debut at the 2022 Open Sud de France after receiving a wildcard into the doubles main draw with

Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg Sascha Gueymard Wayenburg (born 1 August 2003) is a French tennis player. Gueymard Wayenburg has a career high ATP singles ranking of No. 427 achieved on 26 September 2022. He also has a career high ATP doubles ranking of No. 466 achieved on 9 ...

. He made his Grand Slam debut in doubles at the

2022 French Open The 2022 French Open was a Grand Slam tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was held at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, from 22 May to 5 June 2022, comprising singles, doubles and mixed doubles play. Junior and wheelchair ...

as a wildcard pair partnering also Gueymard Wayenburg. In October, Van Assche reached his first singles final on the

ATP Challenger Tour The ATP Challenger Tour, known until the end of 2008 as the ATP Challenger Series, is a series of international men's professional tennis tournaments. The Challenger Tour events are the second-highest tier of tennis competition, behind the ATP T ...

Lisbon Lisbon (; pt, Lisboa ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 544,851 within its administrative limits in an area of 100.05 km2. Grande Lisboa, Lisbon's urban area extends beyond the city's administr ...

, Portugal, entering the main draw as a qualifier and losing to

Marco Cecchinato Marco Cecchinato (; born 30 September 1992) is an Italian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of World No. 16 reached on 25 February 2019. On 29 April 2018, he won his first ATP World Tour title at the 2018 Hungar ...

in the finals. As a result he climbed close to 60 positions in the rankings into the top 250 at world No. 231 on 3 October 2022. In November, he entered the top 200 at world No. 198 after reaching the final of the Brest Challenger losing to Gregoire Barrere and the quarterfinals in

Roanne Roanne (; frp, Rouana; oc, Roana) is a commune in the Loire department, central France. It is located northwest of Lyon on the river Loire. It has an important Museum, the ''Musée des Beaux-arts et d'Archéologie Joseph-Déchelette'' (Fren ...

. Later in the same month, he reached his third Challenger final of the season and his career defeating Pablo Llamas Ruiz in the semis. He lost in the final in straight sets to

Oleksii Krutykh Oleksii Krutykh (born 10 March 2000) is a Ukrainian tennis player. Krutykh has a career high ATP singles ranking of World No. 185 achieved on 19 December 2022. He also has a career high doubles ranking of World No. 275 achieved on 5 December 202 ...

. He moved to No. 176 on 28 November 2022. A week later he reached another final at the

2022 Maia Challenger The 2022 Maia Challenger was a professional tennis tournament played on clay courts. It was the fifth edition of the tournament which was part of the 2022 ATP Challenger Tour. It took place in Maia, Portugal from 28 November to 4 December 2022. ...

defeating third seed

Elias Ymer Elias Ymer (born 10 April 1996) is a Swedish tennis player. He has a career high Association of Tennis Professionals, ATP singles ranking of World No. 105, achieved on 11 June 2018. He has a career high ATP doubles ranking of World No. 188, achi ...

, Alexander Lazarov,

Ivan Gakhov Ivan Andreevich Gakhov ( rus, Ива́н Андре́евич Га́хов, , ɪˈvan ˈɡaxəf; born 4 November 1996) is a Russian tennis player. Gakhov has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 142 achieved on 19 June 2023. He also h ...

and fifth seed Aleksandar Vukic and moved another 25 positions up to No. 151 in the rankings. He won his maiden Challenger title defeating qualifier

Maximilian Neuchrist Maximilian Neuchrist (born 22 July 1991) is an Austrian tennis player playing on the ATP Challenger Tour who competes on the ATP Challenger and ITF Futures tour level. Neuchrist has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 244 achieved ...

. As a result he moved to No. 138 in the rankings on 5 December 2022 making him the youngest player in the top 150.

2023: Major singles debut

Van Assche received a wildcard into the

2023 Australian Open The 2023 Australian Open was a Grand Slam level tennis tournament held at Melbourne Park, from 16–29 January 2023. It was the 111th edition of the Australian Open, the 55th in the Open Era, and the first major of the year. The tournament consi ...

main draw to make his Grand Slam debut in singles.

Personal life

Van Assche has a Belgian father and an Italian mother. He also has two sisters, Sofia and Elisa, and a brother Paolo.

Junior Grand Slam titles

Singles: 1 (1 title)

ATP Challenger and ITF Futures/World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 4 (1–3)

References

External links

* * 2004 births Living people French male tennis players People from Woluwe-Saint-Lambert Tennis players from Paris Grand Slam (tennis) champions in boys' singles French Open junior champions French people of Belgian descent French people of Italian descent Sportspeople from Brussels {{France-tennis-bio-stub