Van Assche Among Well-Placed French Trio In Next Gen Race

Luca Van Assche boosted his bid for a debut appearance at the Next Gen ATP Finals after clinching his maiden match win at a major at his home Grand Slam of Roland Garros.

The 19-year-old Frenchman defeated Marco Cecchinato in the first round on his main draw debut in Paris. Van Assche’s straight-sets triumph against Italy’s Cecchinato has solidified his standing in sixth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race.

Van Assche has also lifted two ATP Challenger Tour titles this year and is now at a career-high No. 69 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. He now has 435 points in the Pepperstone ATP Live Next Gen Race, 120 shy of fifth-placed Ben Shelton.

Van Assche’s fellow Frenchmen Arthur Fils and Arthur Cazaux also competed at Roland Garros. Despite both falling to first-round defeats, the duo remains in strong contention to qualify for the 21-and-under event. The 19-year-old Fils is in fourth place on 673 points, having leapfrogged Shelton after winning his maiden ATP Tour title in Lyon in May, while Cazaux is in 12th.

Italian Flavio Cobolli and Serbian Hamad Medjedovic are in seventh and eighth place, respectively. Both battled through qualifying to make their Grand Slam main-draw debut at Roland Garros, where the 21-year-old Cobolli fell to then-World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz in the first round.

Rounding out the Top 10 in the race are 2022 Next Gen ATP Finals semi-finalist Dominic Stricker and 20-year-old Dalibor Svrcina. The 20-year-old Czech Svrcina lifted his maiden ATP Challenger Tour title in his homeland on Saturday to move to 247 points, just nine behind both Medjedovic and Switzerland’s Stricker.