Valentin Vacherot Shocks in Shanghai and Wins His First Title
In a performance that will be etched in the memory of tennis fans, Valentin Vacherot won the Shanghai Masters title, after defeating his cousin Arthur Rinderknech with a score of 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. This triumph marks the first championship in the tennis player’s career, who starred in an outstanding performance from the qualifying rounds.
Vacherot, ranked 204th in the world and 26 years old, made history by becoming the winner of a Masters 1000 tournament with the lowest ranking in ATP history. Furthermore, he is the first tennis player to achieve this feat representing the small principality of Monaco.
The tournament’s semi-final was a high point for Vacherot, where he managed to defeat Novak Djokovic, champion of 24 Grand Slam tournaments, which allowed him to advance to the final against Rinderknech.
In the decisive set, Vacherot demonstrated his dominance with the serve, achieving three consecutive blank games and accumulating 15 points in a row. Although he lost a point in the eighth game due to an unforced error, he maintained the pressure on his rival.
Rinderknech, trying to stay in the match, saved a match point, but Vacherot secured the victory with a powerful forehand. Emotion took over Vacherot, who reacted with disbelief before celebrating with his cousin and his team.
Vacherot’s coach, Benjamin Balleret, also celebrated the triumph. Balleret, who is Vacherot’s half-brother and a former tennis player, has as the highlight of his career a defeat against Roger Federer at the Monte Carlo Masters in 2006.
In the Shanghai audience was Roger Federer, who witnessed Rinderknech taking the first set.
Vacherot got an early break in the final set, but wasted four break opportunities in the fifth game. Rinderknech requested a medical timeout to receive treatment on his back and shoulder, but this did not stop his cousin’s momentum.
Before this match, both players had only faced each other once on the professional circuit, with Rinderknech winning in a futures tournament in 2018.
