2023 French Open : Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Luca van Assche
2023 French Open : Alejandro Davidovich Fokina vs. Luca van Assche
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
In his first match on clay in exactly two weeks, #34 ranked Alejandro Davidovich Fokina struggled early in his French Open match before eventually finding form against #63 Arthur Fils, winning in four sets.
The clay-court specialist is vying to make a deep run after his quarterfinal appearance here back in 2021. He has already had great success this year on the clay-court swing with a hard fought straight set win against #6 Holger Rune, and competitive matches with #1 Carlos Alcaraz and #7 Andrey Rublev.
Although Davidovich Fokina is not one of the taller players on tour, he makes up for it with his hard hitting abilities, quick footwork, and his impressive net play and drop shot tactics.
His next match happens to be against someone slowly making a mark : Luca van Assche
Luca Van Assche
The 19-year-old is also not one of the taller players on tour but like Davidovich Fokina he hits the ball quite hard, and is sensational with his footwork.
In fact, he has athleticism that rivals Alex De Minaur and Alcaraz.
Assche not only thrives on clay, but also makes minimal errors.
Assche is coming off his first round match where he breezed by former French Open Semi-finalist Marco Cecchinato in just two hours.
On clay this year, Assche has already shown favorable results, taking a set off former #1 Novak Djokovic and defeating former #3 Stan Wawrinka.
Playing in his home country will be a huge benefit for Assche, who rallied around the crowd during his first round matchup.
This should be an exciting match all in all.
However, if I had to make a pick, I would go with Assche.
While Davidovich Fokina will likely enter as the favorite, Assche’s recent play combined with Davidovich Fokina’s two week break gives Assche the perfect opportunity to grab another win.