Van Assche's 'sequence' to Jeddah return trip

  • Posted: Dec 17, 2024

Frenchman Luca Van Assche is one of three players making a return trip to Jeddah at this week’s Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, alongside Arthur Fils and Alex Michelsen. The 20-year-old Van Assche made the semi-finals in 2023 before falling to countryman Fils.

But this year, there is a new team in Van Assche’s corner, Italians Vincenzo Santopadre and Paolo Cannova, the latter accompanying the Frenchman this week.

[ATP APP]

Since beginning their partnership in February, Van Assche and Santopadre — who previously spent 13 years with Matteo Berrettini — have built a strong connection that extends beyond the tennis court. Santopadre introduced his charge to the Italian card game Scopa, sparking a new source of friendly competition.

“It’s a fun game,” Van Assche said. “I didn’t play a lot of cards when I was young. When I met [Vicenzo], he bought some new cards and they are Italian cards. We started to play this game and we are very competitive.

“The last two weeks, we didn’t play that much because Paolo bought another game — Sequence — so we are trying some new things. It’s very fun off the court.”

Does Van Assche, who studies mathematics at Paris Dauphine University, use those skills to give him an edge in such games?

“It can help but also sometimes, it’s a bit of luck. When I win, of course it’s normal because my brain works very well,” Van Assche joked. “But when I lose, it’s because the others are lucky!”

Van Assche’s season highlight came at the start of the year, a third-round run at Australian Open that featured back-to-back five-set wins. Now the No. 128 player in the PIF ATP Rankings looks to put a bow on 2024 with a deep run in Saudi Arabia. He will be the first to take the court Wednesday against China’s Shang Juncheng. It will be their first Lexus ATP Head2Head series meeting.

“It is a fun tournament with some different rules. It’s such a special atmosphere here. It’s different from a normal tournament, only eight players competing,” Van Assche said. “With the group stage, I lost a match [last year] and I still qualified for the semis. I also played against a good friend [Fils] in the semis. It was a good experience.”

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