Luca Van Assche reaches Paris Masters quarterfinal
Luca Van Assche advanced to the Paris Masters quarterfinals, setting up a Friday showdown with Rinky Hijikata for a place in the last four in Paris.
Why Luca Van Assche is trending
Luca Van Assche is through to the quarterfinals at the Rolex Paris Masters, where he will meet Rinky Hijikata on Friday for a place in the semifinals. The matchup sits in the top half of the draw at the indoor hard-court ATP Masters 1000 event. Van Assche's advance comes in the same week that two bigger names, Ben Shelton and Tommy Paul, also punched their tickets to the final eight in Paris.
Shelton, the third seed, needed a third-set tiebreak to get past home favorite Arthur Rinderknech on Thursday, winning 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5) to reach the Paris quarterfinals for the second year running. Paul also went the distance, beating fellow Frenchman Quentin Halys 7-6(3), 6-4 in a match he had to win to keep his Nitto ATP Finals hopes alive. Both Americans needed every set to get through, a sign this stage of the draw has produced tight tennis all week. Those two now meet in the other quarterfinal, a rematch between good friends who have not played each other since 2024.
Shelton and Paul set up an all-American rematch
Shelton and Paul will play their first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash since 2024 on Friday at Plenitude Arena. Both are chasing their first Paris semifinal appearance. Shelton has already qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin, and his win over Rinderknech was the 43rd tour-level victory of his season, a new personal best that tops the 42 wins he posted in 2024.
Shelton called Paul "a great player, a great friend" ahead of the match and said he has been rooting for him all year. He promised "fireworks tomorrow" when the two friends share the court.
The race to Turin
Paul is not locked into the Nitto ATP Finals field yet. He sits 13th in the PIF ATP Live Race to Turin, four spots outside the qualifying cutoff, but he trails ninth-placed Rafael Jodar by just 309 points. Taylor Fritz, 11th in the race and still playing in Paris, has the same chance to catch Jodar and eighth-placed Frances Tiafoe, both of whom are already out of the draw. The two Americans are not just playing for a Paris trophy, every match this month also doubles as a scoreboard in that race.
What happens next in Paris
Van Assche and Hijikata have not yet played their quarterfinal, so there is no result to report from that half of the draw. What is known is the stakes: the winner advances to the Paris semifinals and keeps their week alive heading into the closing stretch of the season. Shelton and Paul play their quarterfinal Friday at Plenitude Arena, and a semifinal spot in Paris is on the line in both halves of the draw. The Nitto ATP Finals picture in the Live Race to Turin will keep moving until the tournament wraps.
Facts per ATP Tour. Opinion is the taproom's.