Young Frenchman Luca Van Assche Secures First Masters 1000 Victory in Miami

Van Assche, belle première

The 5th attempt was successful. After four entry defeats in Masters 1000, the latest at Indian Wells against Matteo Arnaldi, Luca Van Assche won his first victory in this prestigious tournament category this Wednesday in Miami. The young Frenchman, 80th in the world, got the better of the Russian Pavel Kotov, 67th in the ATP, in two sets (6-3, 7-5) and a little over an hour and a half of play (1h39 exactly ) to reach the 2nd round. At this stage, he will be condemned to the feat against Casper Ruud, member of the Top 10.

To win, Van Assche first knew how to keep his back by dismissing three break points (one at 1-1, two at 2-2) before taking advantage of the first drop in speed from his powerful opponent for him steal his entry at 4-3 and take the lead straight away. In the second act, the scenario almost repeated itself: Van Asche saved the opponent’s first opportunity at 2-1 against him, before making the break at 3-3. But this time, when serving for the match, he let his guard down, conceding a blank break (6-3, 5-5).

In this game, Van Assche fell, what’s more, blocking his right ankle somewhat. But this scare had no consequences and the Frenchman reacted perfectly straight away. He fixed Kotov on the backhand side and played him to the net, causing errors that earned him another break. And he didn’t hesitate to conclude afterwards.

Son wasn’t in it

Arthur Fils only made a short trip to Miami. After spending two rounds at Indian Wells before being subjected to the law of Casper Ruud, the young Frenchman did not find how to do it again in Florida. Never really in the game, he was unable to impose his power on the court against Matteo Arnaldi. And the Italian was content to play him several times to push him to make a mistake. A winning tactic since Arthur Fils multiplied the unforced errors (18 to 9).

Unable to put Arnaldi in difficulty on his throw in play (0 break points) while he had to regularly work to avoid being broken (8 break points saved out of 10), Arthur Fils finally let this match go in two short sets and only 1h26 of play.

Too imprecise, Son has already left the door: his setback on video

Murray wins marathon

It’s a habit he’s gotten into in recent years at the start of tournaments. Andy Murray is struggling to go short, but after a very complicated start to the season, he is winning more regularly. Wednesday in Miami, he defeated Matteo Berrettini in three sets (4-6, 6-3, 6-4) and just under three hours of play (2h49) in the first round. In his next match, he will face the Argentinian Tomas Martin Etcheverry who had soundly beaten him at the Australian Open.

Impressive image: After Cazaux, Berrettini almost collapses on the court

Murray, however, had a difficult start. Broken from the start, he was unable to catch up and logically gave up the first set. But he did not give up, and his work of undermining the restart ended up paying off at 3-2 in his favor. His ability to make Berrettini play the extra shot and to be more aggressive in returning the second ball allowed him to reverse the dynamic. And physically, he also took the upper hand, his Italian opponent even being the victim of an initial malaise at 5-2 against him in the second act. Fortunately more fear than harm for Berrettini who was able to resume the game.

On his momentum, “Sir Andy” however hit the nail on the head at the start of the third set to never let go of his advantage, despite a scare at 3-2 (three consecutive break points ruled out) in this final round. He subsequently showed himself to be much more solid in serving and rallying to win.

2024-03-20 22:31:00
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