2023-04-17 21:42:15
He’s not the most famous French player and that’s normal. The young French hopeful Luca Van Assche, 87th player in the world, however overthrew the Swiss Stan Wawrinka (84th) in three sets (1-6, 7-6 (7/4), 6-4) this Monday in the first round of the tournament ATP 250 on clay from Banja Luka. The 18-year-old will play his second round match against world No. 1 Serbian Novak Djokovic, who has been exempted from the first round.
Eliminated last week in the round of 16 in Monte-Carlo by the Italian Lorenzo Musetti, the Serb will face an unknown opponent but in front of an audience that will be his ally, on a pitch just built for this tournament in the capital of Bosnian Serb entity.
“I’ve never met this boy before, I don’t know much about him. I know he is young, that he has just joined the top hundred in the world, Djokovic said at a press conference in Banja Luka. I honestly thought Wawrinka was going to win, he was leading most of the game. So it is indeed a surprise, the victory of this little guy, this Frenchman”, said “Nole”, qualifying Van Assche as a “fighter (…) fast”, “very difficult to master”.
Djokovic still suffers from an elbow
Van Assche did not exist in the first round, won hands down by the Swiss veteran 20 years his senior. Unable to counter the huge serve from the former world No. 3 who fell to 84th place, the 2021 Junior Roland-Garros winner was quickly trailing 5-0 after conceding two breaks and finally gave in on the bet. into play from his opponent 6-1 in barely half an hour (34 mins).
The native of Brussels held his serve in the second set, racing in the lead and repelling on his serve at 5-5 a break point in favor of the Swiss, offering himself the right to then play a tie-break that he won with authority (7/4). In the final round, when he was trailing 3-1, the Frenchman immediately unbroken then served to equalize at 3-3 before breaking away and winning this showdown in 2h42mn.
Winner in 2023 of the Challengers of Pau and San Remo, he will face Djokovic on Wednesday or Thursday, who has still not fully healed an injury to his right arm which he was already suffering from in Monte-Carlo. “The elbow is not in ideal condition, but let’s say it’s good enough. I hope it will be fully ready for the first match,” he explained.
This ATP 250 tournament traditionally takes place in Belgrade. He was relocated this season to Banja Luka, in Bosnia and Herzegovina, due to modernization works at the Belgrade site.
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