By Richard Pagliaro | Friday, July 24, 2026
Photo credit: Millennium Estoril Open Facebook

Dislodging clumps of red clay with his damaging drives, Luca Van Assche reconfigured the Estoril Open draw.

The 22-year-old Van Assche toppled top-seeded Andrey Rublev, 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to battle into his first Tour-level semifinal.

An energized Van Assche snapped Rublev’s five-match winning streak scoring what he called the biggest win of his life.

“I’m very, very happy about the win today. It’s the best win of my career so far,” Van Assche said. “It means a lot to me. It was a tough match. I’m happy with the level I played.

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“I love Portugal. I’ve played well here during my career so far. It’s a place that I love and to be in the semifinals, it’s a great step in my career.”

Van Assche’s victory ensures there will be a Frenchman in the final. Van Assche will face fellow Frenchman Hugo Gaston for a spot in Sunday’s final.

Earlier, Gaston swept Portuguese wild card Tiago Torres, 6-3, 6-4.

In the final set, Van Assche broke served in the third game then backed up the break at 30 for a 3-1 lead.

Coming off his 18th career championship in Bastad on Sunday, Rublev dug in and won 11 consecutive points on serve to cut the gap to 4-5 and force the Frenchman to serve it out.

World No. 78 Van Assche saved a break point at 30-40 before closing his biggest career win in two hours, 15 minutes.