Luca Van Assche, the last Frenchman in the draw, beat qualifier Rinky Hijikata 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5 in 2 hours and 44 minutes on Court Central on Friday to reach the semi-finals of the Rolex Paris Masters, the first Masters 1000 semi-final of his career. He broke Hijikata to love at 6-5 in the decider and sealed the win on his first match point, when the Australian put a backhand volley into the net.

The win will take the world No. 47 into the top 35. Hijikata, ranked No. 83 at the start of the week, leaves Paris with the best ranking of his career, inside the top 60.

On Saturday, Van Assche faces third seed Ben Shelton, who beat Tommy Paul 6-4, 4-6, 6-3 earlier in the day to reach his first semi-final in Paris.

Van Assche ready for Shelton

“I’m a bit tired,” Van Assche admitted on court. “Once again, it was an incredible match.”

“He is an incredible player. He had some great wins this week, notably against Djokovic,” he said of Hijikata. “I think the surface suited him well, he has a very flat game, he is very aggressive, and it wasn’t easy for me. 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,” he added. “I’m happy to have turned the situation around, and it’s a pleasure to win here in Paris.”

Next comes Shelton. “It’s going to be complicated,” Van Assche said. “Now I’m going to do everything to recover well, and I’m going to do everything to win tomorrow.”

Fewer errors, and the last word in the decider

Van Assche took the only break of the first set at 4-4, then trailed 3-0 in the second before breaking back. He saved break points in two long service games at 3-3 and 4-4, but Hijikata, who had led the tie-break 6-2, took it 7-4.

Neither player held back in the decider, with winners flowing from both sides. At 6-5, with Hijikata serving to stay in the match, a forehand passing shot from Van Assche, his second in three points, and a double fault from the Australian gave the Frenchman three match points. He needed only one.

Hijikata hit more winners (47 to 39), but made 41 unforced errors to Van Assche’s 20.

The Australian kept rushing forward, more and more as the decider drew to a close, but Van Assche was waiting for him. Hijikata came to the net 43 times and won only 25 of those points, while the Frenchman, far more selective, won 11 of his 13 trips forward. It was at the net that the match ended: on match point, Hijikata moved in once more and put a backhand volley into the net.

The Frenchman hit 13 aces to Hijikata’s seven, saved five of the seven break points he faced and won eight of the last ten points, according to Flashscore.

Van Assche, the last French hope

Van Assche had beaten Mariano Navone 6-3, 7-5, 15th seed Learner Tien 7-6 (4), 6-4, then Lorenzo Musetti 7-5, 3-6, 6-4, two weeks after losing to the Italian in Lyon. Hijikata, who came through qualifying, had knocked out Novak Djokovic and Tomas Martin Etcheverry, both times after losing the first set.

Van Assche is now the only Frenchman left in the singles draw, after Arthur Fils lost to Taylor Fritz on Thursday night. “I hope we’ll have a Frenchman in the semi-finals, in the final, and maybe even the winner,” Fils said after his defeat. The first part of his wish has come true.

Rolex Paris Masters 2026 quarter-final results

Ben Shelton (3) d. Tommy Paul (12) 6-4, 4-6, 6-3
Luca Van Assche d. Rinky Hijikata (Q) 6-4, 6-7 (4), 7-5
Carlos Alcaraz (2) vs Taylor Fritz (11) (Friday, not before 7 p.m.)
Nuno Borges (LL) vs Casper Ruud (Friday, not before 8:30 p.m.)