Van Assche Battles Past Hijikata to Reach First Masters 1000 Semi-Final in Paris

There was a moment, early in the third set on Friday evening, when Luca Van Assche's week looked like it might finally run out of road. Rinky Hijikata, the qualifier who had already knocked out Novak Djokovic, had taken the second set and broken away to 2-0 in the decider. The Paris crowd, which had roared Van Assche through three rounds, went quiet. Two hours and 44 minutes later, that same crowd was on its feet, and the 22-year-old Frenchman was into his first Masters 1000 semi-final.

Van Assche won 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5, and the way he won it said everything about where his game is right now. He did not panic when the match turned. He did not force it when Hijikata, all flat groundstrokes and forward rushes, kept coming at him. He waited, absorbed, and then, at 6-5 in the third with the Australian serving to stay alive, he produced the two best shots of the match — a pair of forehand passing shots — and a double fault from Hijikata handed him three match points. He needed one. Hijikata came to the net one last time and put a backhand volley into the tape.

"I think the surface suited him well, he has a very flat game, he is very aggressive, and it wasn't easy for me," Van Assche said afterwards, generous as ever about an opponent who had given him nothing. "But I'm happy with the way I was able to bounce back. It's true that losing the second set hurt a bit, and the start of the third was quite complicated. I'm happy to have turned the situation around, and it's a pleasure to win here in Paris."

The numbers tell the story of a match decided by nerve as much as by shot-making. Hijikata actually hit more winners, 47 to 39, but he also made 41 unforced errors to Van Assche's 20. The Frenchman fired 13 aces, saved five of the seven break points he faced, and won eight of the last ten points of the match.

It is a run that keeps getting better. Van Assche arrived in Paris ranked 47th in the world. He beat Mariano Navone, then Learner Tien, then Lorenzo Musetti — avenging a defeat to the Italian in Lyon just two weeks earlier — and now Hijikata. The win takes him into the top 35 and, at a career-high 34th in the world, he will be the youngest Frenchman to reach the Paris semi-finals since Richard Gasquet in 2007. He is also the last Frenchman left in the draw.

Hijikata leaves La Défense with plenty of his own. The 83rd-ranked Australian came through qualifying, beat Djokovic from a set down, did the same to Tomas Martin Etcheverry, and will leave with the best ranking of his career, inside the top 60. "He came up with the goods when he needed to," Hijikata said of Van Assche. "I went after it, I felt like I stuck to my guns as well as I could. It's disappointing it didn't go my way, but I backed myself, and sometimes it's all you can ask for."

Next comes the biggest test of all. On Saturday, Van Assche faces third seed Ben Shelton, who beat Tommy Paul 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 earlier on Friday to reach his own first Paris semi-final. "It's going to be complicated," Van Assche admitted. "Now I'm going to do everything to recover well, and I'm going to do everything to win tomorrow." After a week like this one, nobody in Paris would bet against him.