ROLAND GARROS

June 12, 2021

Luca Van Assche

Press Conference

L. VAN ASSCHE/A. Fils

6-4, 6-2

THE MODERATOR: Questions, please.

Q. Congratulations. Your first junior Grand Slam title. How does it feel?

LUCA VAN ASSCHE: Yeah, thank you. Well, I'm very happy to win Roland Garros. Here, Roland Garros is in France, and I'm very happy to win this tournament.

Q. Congratulations. Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet, Paul-Henri Mathieu, Fabrice Santoro, Henri Leconte, Christophe Roger-Vasselin, these are just some of the French names who have won junior Roland Garros. How does it feel that your name is now part of that list?

LUCA VAN ASSCHE: Well, like I said, I'm very happy. We work a lot to be like them in the future and to have the same career than them.

Q. You're 17 years old, but how do you see the future? Do you want to go play tennis in America at university? Do you want to go pro? What is your goal on the senior tour?

LUCA VAN ASSCHE: Well, no, I will not go to America. It is not my goal. I will be in France. I will work a lot, and I want to be a professional tennis player.

Q. Can you reflect on the moment you won, the moment you beat your friend obviously in the final? What was the first thing you thought of or who was the first person you thought of?

LUCA VAN ASSCHE: Well, I was very happy. I looked to my team, and we were celebrating the victory.

Yeah, I was very, very happy to win this big tournament in France in front of our fans, in front of French people. So, yeah, it was very cool.

Q. There were four boys in the semifinals, the first time in history that has ever happened, four French boys. How competitive does it get between you guys? Everyone wants to beat each other? Tell me about that a little bit.

LUCA VAN ASSCHE: Yeah, it was unbelievable to be four French peers in semifinals. Yeah, we are competitive. We all want to win.

So, yeah, I think it's a good competitive, because when someone is winning we want to win the same players and same rankings. So we want to win, and it's good because we know each other very well. So when someone is winning we want to win also.

So, yeah, we are very happy to be four in the semifinals, and I hope we will continue like this.

Q. How will you celebrate your victory?

LUCA VAN ASSCHE: I don't know yet (smiling). I will see after. I didn't know what will I do. I will rest a little bit, and I have to study a little bit because I have exams next week.

Q. What about your next tournaments?

LUCA VAN ASSCHE: My next tournaments I think will be Roehampton and Wimbledon on grass.