Young Saudi tennis players grill Van Assche on self-doubt & deciding to become a pro

Luca Van Assche thrilled the opening-day crowd at the 2024 Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF on Wednesday afternoon in Jeddah. His four-set victory against Shang Juncheng may well have inspired a group of young tennis enthusiasts in the stands at King Abdullah Sports City.

Boys and girls from schools in Jeddah that watched the match were later invited to ask questions in a special post-match press conference with the 20-year-old Frenchman. The topics they pressed Van Assche on ranged from why he began playing tennis to how he deals with mental hurdles as a professional player.

“When I was 11 or 12, I decided I wanted tennis to be my job,” explained Van Assche. “Of course I was very young, so it was not sure that I would be a professional player at the end. Then when I was 17. I started play very well in juniors, and I won Roland Garros in juniors. Then I started to play professional tournaments, and I saw the level, and that’s when I said to myself and my family, ‘I want to be a professional tennis player’.”

One of the young fans asked Van Assche if he had ever struggled with self-doubt during his tennis journey.

“Of course, everyone has doubts,” said Van Assche. “When you are a kid, when you start playing, you are just playing for fun at the beginning. I still play for fun, but now of course it is my job. When I started to decide to be a professional tennis player, it’s difficult, because if you do well and become a professional, it’s very good, but the chances are very slim. You have to take your opportunities.

“Also now that I’m on Tour, sometimes you lose a lot of matches and sometimes you think, ‘Why am I doing this?’, because my family is in France and I’m almost never there to see them. Sometimes it can be difficult but I’m enjoying my life on Tour for the moment, it’s cool.”

Van Assche certainly enjoyed his time on court on Wednesday in Jeddah, where he was rock-solid against Shang to kick-start his Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF campaign. When asked for any funny or unexpected occurrences that had happened during the match, the Frenchman was quick to refer to the early point he won with a net cord ace, courtesy of the ‘No Let’ rule being used at this year’s edition of the 20-and-under event.

“Today it was funny, because I don’t play a lot of matches with the No Let rule," said Van Assche. "I think first or second game I did an ace with a let, and on the ATP Tour you don’t play like this. So it was funny and unexpected.”