Hijikata and Van Assche, two stories of redemption and a semifinalist in Paris

Today at the ATP Paris, we were treated to two great stories of redemption, those of Rinky Hijikata and Luca Van Assche. First, the Australian tennis player came back against Tomás Martín Etcheverry to defeat him with a score of 2-6, 6-3, and 7-5 and advance to the quarter-finals. Just a few minutes later, he learned that his opponent would be Luca Van Assche, who has become a prophet in his homeland after defeating Lorenzo Musetti with a score of 7-5, 3-6, and 6-4. 

In Hijikata's case, his morale was sky-high after also coming back against Novak Djokovic in the previous round. This week is turning out to be one of the most important of his career, and with this new comeback against Etcheverry, he has achieved a victory that could change the course of his career and fulfill some of the expectations that were placed upon his shoulders early on. In fact, he has ensured he will leave Paris in the top 60, marking his best professional ranking.

Van Assche takes revenge on Musetti

However, the biggest surprise was Van Assche against Musetti. Lorenzo had previously defeated Luca at the ATP Lyon in a marathon match a few weeks ago, but today he saw how the Frenchman relied on his home crowd to save a 15-40 with 3-4 and then break the Italian immediately, who had high spirits after eliminating Alexander Zverev.

There was a time when Van Assche was seen as one of the new diamonds in the rough of French tennis, though he had been stagnant for a while. However, this season he has risen from the ashes, and with this victory he also secures his best ranking, as he will at least be ranked 39th in the world starting Monday.

This is an automatic translation. You can read the original news, Hijikata y Van Assche, dos historias de redención y un semifinalista en París