The Frenchman took out three seeds and won four three-setters to take the title on the clay of Estoril.
The second battle of two first-time finalists on the ATP tour in 2026 goes to France’s Luca Van Assche.
The talented clay-courter eased past Belgium’s Alexander Blockx, 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the Estoril Open final in Lisbon to become the tenth first-time champion on the ATP Tour in 2026. Van Assche, 22, is one of two Frenchman to have claimed hardware this week, along with Quentin Halys, who won the title in Kitzbuhel.
“It was an incredible week for me,” Van Assche said. “All my matches here were very difficult – very exhausting – I’m very proud to be the winner this week.”
On a gorgeous Sunday afternoon in Lisbon, in a rematch of the Lille Challenger final in February (played on hard courts) the former junior No.1 became the first Frenchman to win in Estoril since Richard Gasquet in 2015.
Van Assche, who won the Parma Challenger title on clay in June, will rise to a career-high ranking of No.48 as the result of his victory.
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He was pushed to the brink by Blockx, who seemed to be struggling physically after falling behind by a set and a break, but found the energy to power through the second set. The 21-year-old Belgian was broken when serving for the set but broke back in the next game to force a decider.
Blockx fought back in the third as well, from double break 3-0 down to eventually level at 5-all. But Van Assche dug deep to finish off his win by taking the final two games.
Unseeded Van Assche won four three-set matches, including a quarterfinal upset of top-seeded Andrey Rublev and a second-round win over eighth-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta.
He pushed past the fourth seed in two hours and 24 minutes to cap his run.
Van Assche converted eight break points against Blockx, in a match that featured 15 breaks of serve. He hit 21 forehand winners and won 16 of 22 points at the net.
Chris Oddo. Chris Oddo is a freelance sportswriter, podcaster, blogger and social media marker who is a lead contributor to Tennisnow.com. He also writes for USOpen.org, Rolandgarros.com, BNPParibasOpen.com, TennisTV.com, WTAtennis.com and the official US Open program.