Shanghai, Oct 12: Valentin Vacherot beat his cousin Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 on Sunday to win the Shanghai Masters for the first title of his career after a stunning run from the qualifying rounds.
The 204th-ranked Vacherot, an unheralded 26-year-old, was the lowest-ranked tournament winner in ATP Masters 1000 history – and the first from Monaco.
He stunned 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals to set up a final against the 30-year-old Rinderknech, who had downed four-time major finalist Daniil Medvedev, the 2021 US Open champion, in a remarkable semifinal of his own.
Before toppling Djokovic – owner of 100 career titles and among the greatest men’s players ever – Vacherot also beat tenth-seeded Holger Rune in the quarterfinals.
Vacherot wrong-footed Rinderknech with a blistering forehand winner down the line to clinch victory.
Vacherot held his face in his hands in disbelief before walking to the net to hug his cousin and then rushing to his team box to share a long hug with coach Benjamin Balleret, who is his half-brother and is a former tennis player from Monaco.
Balleret’s career highlight was a defeat to tennis great Roger Federer in the early rounds of the Monte Carlo Masters in 2006.
Nineteen years later, Federer was in the Shanghai crowd watching the final.
Balleret and Federer shook hands before Vacherot grabbed a red-and-white Monaco flag and displayed it on court. Then he wrote “Grandma and Grandpa would be proud” on a courtside camera. (AP)
