“Great pleasure, great joy to win this first match here in Paris,” Van Assche said in French. “Playing in France and winning matches always feels great.”
Van Assche won the only title of his career at Estoril in July, defeating Alexander Bloks 6-4, 4-6, 7-5 in the final.
Van Assche holds all 10 service games against Navon
Van Assche broke Navone in the opening game and saved two break points at 3-2. He broke again at 5-3 to take the set on his first set point.
He saved another break point in the opening game of the second set, then served for 6-5 when Van Assche broke on his first match point. He won 86% of his first-serve points and hit seven aces, while Navone committed 28 unforced errors to 20.
Navone, ranked 48th, won the Bucharest title in March, defeating Daniel Merida 6-2, 4-6, 7-5 in the final, before losing to Larer Tien 3-6, 6-3, 7-5 in the Geneva final in May.
Van Assche grew up in Paris and watched the tournament as a child. “I really think it’s the Masters 1000 with the best atmosphere,” he said.
Rolex Paris Masters 2026 first round results
Lorenzo Musetti d. Hubert Hurkach 7-6 (3), 7-6 (10)
Luca Van Aschen d. Mariano Navone 6-3, 7-5
Stephanos Tsitsipas vs Student Tien (15) (Tuesday)
Novak Djokovic (10) vs Valentin Vacherot (Tuesday)
Rinki Hijikata (Q) d. Luciano Darderi 6-2, 6-2
Andrey Rublev vs Thomas Martin Echeverri (Tuesday)
Cameron Norrie vs Matteo Arnoldi (monday)
Mattia Bellucci (Q) vs Lorenzo Sonego (Q) (monday)
Artur Rinderknech vs Francisco Cerundolo (16) (Tuesday)
Tommy Paul (12) vs Holger Rune (PR) (Tuesday)
Daniel Merida d. Sebastian Baez (LL) 6-4, 6-2
Quentin Hallis vs Arthur Ferry (Tuesday)
Jan-Lennard Straff (SE) vs Arthur Gea (WC) (Tuesday)
Casper Rude vs Juan Manuel Cherundolo (Q) (monday)
Rafael Jodar (9) d. Alejandro Tabillo 6-2, 6-3
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (13) vs Moise Kouame (WC) (Tuesday)
Denis Shapovalov vs Karen Khachanov (monday)
Ignacio bus d. Zizu Bergs 6-2, 6-4
Kyrian Jacque (WC) vs Tomas Machac (Q) (monday)
Alex Molkan (Q) vs Titouan Droghe (WC) (monday)
Benjamin Bonzi (Q) vs Taylor Fritz (11) (Tuesday)
Brandon Nakashima (14) vs Matteo Berettini (Tuesday)
Hugo Humbert vs Bottic van de Zandshulp (monday)
Alex Michelsen vs Jiri Lehetska (Tuesday)
Sources: ATP media records; game stats from Flashscore.
