ROLEX PARIS MASTERS

November 7, 2026

Luca Van Assche

Press Conference

B. SHELTON/L. van Assche

5-7, 6-3, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. Hello, Luca. What's your take on the match? I guess you have some regrets, especially in the deciding set. What was the turning point?

LUCA van ASSCHE: I don't really have regrets. I gave it my all, from beginning to the end. I did everything I could, so I don't have any regrets.

Obviously there were times where I could manage the match better. At 3-1, I didn't play so well. I got broken back. Things happen.

I also tried to look at my whole run, which was quite good. My opponent played very well today, so overall, it was a good match.

Q. Of course it's just after the match, but what are you going to do after this match? How can you actually use this week to be even better next year?

LUCA van ASSCHE: It is true that this week is very important for me because I could have a lot of high-level matches under my belt in a row. I played Shelton, who is No. 4 worldwide, and I could actually have a lot of matches back to back.

That shows everything that I could do well, where I have some leeway for progress. This will help me to have more self-confidence, but I know that I can reach a semifinal.

I know that I can go toe to toe with a player like Shelton today. So there is a lot of positive things to get from this, and I will try to work more to be even better next year.

Q. I want to follow up. Are you going to play Stockholm?

LUCA van ASSCHE: I don't know yet. I'm still in the draw, and then I will see with my team. I will try to weigh in the positive and the negative to see if I play Stockholm or not.

Q. Looking back, did you surprise yourself during this week, or did you feel that you were about to showcase your best tennis, especially when you played the top 5 where you competed very well?

LUCA van ASSCHE: Not really. I know that I have the level to go toe to toe with them, but it was the first time that I would play so many matches back to back.

Deep inside me, I know that I have the level to take the upper hand, and I'm very satisfied with this week. But then again, there is still a lot of progress for me to accomplish. I still have a lot of progress to make.

Without this, I still managed to deliver a very good level of tennis.

Q. I would like to go back on this turning point, 3-1. Did you have a letdown after two grueling matches, or not really? Was it something else?

LUCA van ASSCHE: I don't think so. I made some errors. I have no regrets. I dug deep. I did make some wrong tactical choices, so maybe yes. There was some fatigue after all these matches throughout the week, but I had to remain positive.

Even if I got broken back, there was 3-2 for me during the third set, but then again, breaking him was hard. I was frustrated to lose this break so early in the set, but I tried to remain positive.

Q. Let's talk about the next season. You're going to be No. 34 in the ATP rankings. So you're close to being seeded. Is it something that you have in mind? Will it influence your schedule? Do you think that you can actually be amongst the seeded players in Australia?

LUCA van ASSCHE: I don't think I'm going to think along those lines. Of course it helps being a seeded player. I will be 34 in the ranking. It's a very good ranking. It's very positive.

But above all, I will try to remain focused on my game, on learning new skills, on progressing, and then the ranking will follow. I don't need to play as many weeks as possible to be high up in the rankings. If I play better, I will go up in the rankings anyway.

Q. You're going to be No. 2 French player on Monday, so you may be asked to play in the Davis Cup. There's a new captain that has been appointed. Gael has been appointed captain. Have you talked with him? What kind of relationship do you have with Gael?

LUCA van ASSCHE: Well, Gael was an incredible player. I would watch him growing up. He made a lot of French citizens dream, and I'm delighted that he's the French captain. I hope that he will bring us a lot.

I would have liked to see him play here, and I'm sure that he will be a very good French captain.

Q. We saw that your backhand embarrassed Shelton a lot because he's a lefty. Can you talk about playing a lefty at this level? How did you manage to try to dictate the rally against him?

LUCA van ASSCHE: You know, lefties are very much on the opponent player's backhand. I don't care that much, because I know that I have a very good backhand, and his forehand on my backhand doesn't challenge me so much.

I try to hit hard, to open wide, then to dictate the rally with my forehand afterwards. So overall, it worked out. Sometimes I could have done better, obviously, but it was important for me to be in the game.