Teen Luca Van Assche wins longest-ever ATP Challenger final in Pau 

FLASHBACK: Ugo Humbert was playing this week for the first time since suffering this injury against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina last month in Montpellier.

Mon dieu, what a match!

Eighteen-year-old Frenchman Luca Van Assche won the longest final in the history of the ATP Challenger Tour on Sunday, saving two match points to topple compatriot Ugo Humbert at the Terega Open in Pau.

Humbert was playing last week for the first time in a month, after being forced to retire against Alejandro Davidovich Fokina in a dramatic scene in Montpellier.

But No. 2 seed didn't have enough to overcome marathon man Van Assche in their first-ever meeting, despite holding a 3-0 lead in the final set, and having two chances to win at 6-4 in the deciding tiebreak. Van Assche eventually won the match 7-6(5), 4-6, 7-6(6) in 3 hours, 56 minutes.

With the lung-busting win, the 18-year-old capped an arduous week in style: He won four of his five matches in Pau in three sets, and came from a set down to win both his second round and quarterfinal. In the semifinals, he also rolled to a 6-1, 6-3 win over No. 1 seed Arthur Rinderknech.

The record-setting win is the latest achievement in a meteoric rise for the Belgian-born French teenager. The 2021 Roland Garros boys' singles champion, Van Assche became the fourth French teenager to win multiple ATP Challenger titles before turning 19 with his triumph in Pau. He won his first in December in Maia, Portugal.

As a reward for cutting nearly 300 places off his ranking in the last year, Van Assche received a wildcard to the the Australian Open in January, where he was beaten in the first round by Cameron Norrie.