Van Assche Stuns Musetti to Reach First Masters Quarter-Final in Paris

Luca Van Assche gave the home crowd another reason to cheer at the Rolex Paris Masters, beating Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 on Thursday to reach the first Masters 1000 quarter-final of his career. The Frenchman held his nerve in a deciding set against the Italian, who had arrived in the last 16 full of confidence after stunning top seed and world No. 1 Alexander Zverev in straight sets in the previous round. Van Assche took the opener, dropped the second, then regrouped to close out the match and spark celebrations at the Paris La Defense Arena in Nanterre. It continues a remarkable week of upsets in Paris, where Zverev, Daniil Medvedev, Alex de Minaur and Frances Tiafoe all lost their opening matches and Novak Djokovic was knocked out by qualifier Rinky Hijikata. Van Assche will now face Hijikata in the quarter-finals after the Australian qualifier followed up his win over Djokovic by beating Tomas Martin Etcheverry 2-6, 6-3, 7-5. For Van Assche, the run is a career breakthrough on home soil at the final Masters 1000 event of the season.