PARMA/STARNBERG, June 18, 2026
The quarterfinals of the 2026 Emilia-Romagna Tennis Cup produced high-quality action in Parma, with second seed Luca Van Assche ending Marco Cecchinato’s impressive run and securing a place in the semi-finals alongside Sebastian Ofner and Laslo Djere.
Cecchinato, the last Italian remaining in the singles draw of the ATP Challenger 125 tournament, delighted the home crowd at the Circolo del Castellazzo with a brilliant opening set against Van Assche. The former Roland Garros semi-finalist dictated play with a variety of shot-making and capitalized on an unusually erratic start from the 22-year-old Frenchman, who committed seven double faults in the opening set. Cecchinato claimed the first set 6-3 and appeared firmly in control.
From that point on, however, the match changed completely. Van Assche raised his level dramatically and barely put a foot wrong for the remainder of the contest. The Frenchman raced through the next two sets 6-0, 6-1, winning 12 of the final 13 games to complete an emphatic comeback victory. Cecchinato was further hampered late in the match by a shoulder problem that required treatment from the physiotherapist.
Building momentum 📊
Luca van Assche reaches his third semi-final of 2026 with a comeback win! ⚔️#ATPChallenger | 🇮🇹 Parma | @lucavanassche pic.twitter.com/VhcziNZ7pu
— ATP Challenger (@ATPChallenger) June 18, 2026
Van Assche now advances to the semi-finals, where he will face Spain’s Daniel Rincon, who fought past Belgium’s Buvaysar Gadamauri 6-7(3), 6-3, 6-1.
In the top half of the draw, fourth seed Sebastian Ofner booked his place in the last four with a 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 comeback win over Spain’s Roberto Carballes Baena. The 30-year-old Austrian struggled in the opening set but gradually found his rhythm, relying heavily on his powerful backhand to turn the match around and reach his second Challenger semi-final on clay this season following his run in Alicante in March.
“I’m happy. It was a very difficult match played in uncomfortable heat,” said Ofner. “I wasn’t satisfied at all with the first set – too many double faults, too many mistakes. Then I focused only on getting back into the match without becoming frustrated. Slowly I started finding my shots and in the end I got it done. My goal for the second half of the season is to return to the Top 100. I have to take it match by match, starting with the semi-final here in Parma.”
Awaiting Ofner in the semi-finals is former world No. 27 Laslo Djere. The 31-year-old Serbian continued his strong week with a hard-fought 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 victory over Chun Tseng of Chinese Taipei. After taking the opening set, Djere saw Tseng fight back to level the match before securing the decisive break in the ninth game of the third set to seal victory.
