Luca Van Assche captured his maiden ATP Tour title on Sunday, overcoming Alexander Blockx 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in a rollercoaster final at the Millennium Estoril Open.
The 22-year-old Frenchman, a former Roland Garros junior champion, battled for two hours and 24 minutes on the Portuguese clay, surrendering a two-break lead in the decider before regaining his composure to seal victory on his first championship point.
Van Assche, who entered the tournament ranked 78th, will climb to a career-high No. 48 and break into the top 50 for the first time — a reward for a season that already included Challenger titles in Quimper, Lille and Parma.
Both players were contesting their first ATP final, having previously met in the Lille Challenger final in February, which Van Assche also won.
The opening set was a chaotic affair, with five consecutive breaks of serve. Van Assche struck first, was pegged back immediately, then found a third break and finally held serve to consolidate for 4-2. Blockx, who had outlasted Luciano Darderi in a near-three-hour semifinal the night before, saved a set point at 3-5 but could not prevent Van Assche from closing out the set 6-4 after 43 minutes.
Van Assche started the second set strongly, breaking in the opening game and moving 2-0 ahead as Blockx appeared troubled by a thigh issue. But the match turned on a spectacular lob from the Belgian after he had retrieved a drop shot, earning a break point that Van Assche handed over with a poorly placed forehand. Blockx reeled off five consecutive games to lead 5-2. Van Assche fought back to recover the break in the ninth game, but Blockx earned a set point with a stunning down-the-line forehand and levelled the match when the Frenchman netted.
The third set followed a similar pattern. Van Assche broke immediately again, consolidated, and then extended his lead with a second break for 3-0, producing a brilliant running drop-shot and a passing winner. But just when the trophy seemed within reach, the Frenchman handed back one break with his eighth double fault. Blockx saved two break points to hold for 4-2, and when Van Assche served for the championship at 5-4, the Belgian fought back from 0-3 to level at 5-5.
Van Assche, however, gathered himself one last time. He attacked aggressively on return, broke for 6-5, and calmly converted his first championship point to seal the victory.
He becomes the second Frenchman to triumph in Estoril after Richard Gasquet in 2015, capping a remarkable weekend for French tennis that also saw Quentin Halys claim his first ATP title in Kitzbuhel.
Sources
- [Ubitennis](https://www.ubitennis.com/blog/2026/07/26/atp-estoril-van-assche-resiste-alla-rimonta-di-blockx-e-conquista-il-primo-titolo/)
