Roland-Garros: Van Assche and Sons, opposing destinies for the French succession

For their first steps in the big leagues at Roland-Garros, French hopefuls Luca Van Assche and Arthur Fils experienced opposite destinies on Monday, May 29: the first obtained his first Grand Slam victory, not the second.

France's Luca Van Assche faces Italy's Marco Cecchinato, on May 29, 2023 at Roland-Garros © Anne-Christine POUJOULAT / AFP

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Van Assche yes, Son no. On Court N.14, that of the beautiful stories of Lucas Pouille and Fiona Ferro since the qualifications of this 2023 edition, Luca Van Assche, 19 years old since the beginning of May and entered the top 100 at the beginning of April, offered himself his very first victory in Grand Slam at the expense of the Italian Marco Cecchinato (72nd), dominated 6-1, 6-1, 6-3 in less than two hours. "And 1, and 2, and 3, zero," sang the crowd to celebrate his success in three sets.

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I came home a little stressed, but I started very well. It was super cool to play in front of them. From the beginning, I felt comfortable. Little by little, I managed to free myself and I had a very good match. I remained calm and serene from start to finish," says Luca Van Assche. I hope to go much further.

Arthur Fils (63rd), the other French hope born in 2004, freshly winner of his first tournament on the ATP circuit in Lyon on Saturday, did not have the same success: despite a good resistance after a more than delicate start, he lost 6-1, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 against the Spaniard Alejandro Davidovich, 34th in the world, on the Simonne-Mathieu court. What if Van Assche avenged him? It is now he who will attack Davidovich in the second round.

If both appear for the first time in the main draw, Van Assche as Son are not quite newcomers to Roland-Garros, since the first had won the junior tournament in 2021 at the expense of the second.

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