World No. 204 tennis player wins Shanghai Masters

(Dan Tri) - Valentin Vacherot came from behind to defeat his cousin Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final of the 2025 Shanghai Masters to win his first ATP Masters 1000 title.

Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech’s impressive run at the Shanghai Masters came to a dramatic end on the afternoon of October 12, when Vacherot came from behind to defeat his cousin and former college teammate 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win his first ATP Masters 1000 title. The victory made the Monaco player, ranked 204th in the world , the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 champion in history (since 1990).

Vacherot is the lowest-ranked player to win the ATP Masters 1000 (Photo: Getty).

“It’s unbelievable what happened. I don’t understand what’s going on. I didn’t even dream of winning, it’s crazy,” Vacherot said after the match. “I’m very happy with my performance over the last two weeks. I just want to thank everyone who has helped me in my career since the beginning. There had to be a loser, but I think today there were two winners. A family won, and I think for tennis this is an incredible story,” he added.

Playing in front of a packed stadium at one of the ATP Tour's biggest events, the final was a far cry from the pair's time at Texas A&M University, where they were teammates in 2018.

Seven years later, their paths have diverged. Rinderknech arrived in Shanghai at a career-high No. 42 in the ATP rankings, with his best finish being an ATP 250 final in Adelaide in 2022. He had never advanced beyond the third round at a Masters 1000 event until this week.

Vacherot’s rise, however, was all the more remarkable. The 26-year-old came into the tournament with just one tour-level win, earlier this year in Monte Carlo. He became the lowest-ranked finalist in Masters 1000 history, and over the course of two remarkable weeks, he rewrote the trajectory of his career.

After qualifying, Vacherot beat Laslo Djere, Alexander Bublik, Tomas Machac and Tallon Griekspoor to become the first player representing Monaco to reach the quarterfinals of the Masters 1000. He then went on to defeat Holger Rune and four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic to reach the final.

Vacherot and his cousin Rinderknech receive awards at the Shanghai Masters (Photo: Getty).

In a dramatic final, Vacherot once again showed his resilience. He came back from a set down in the sixth set of the tournament, including qualifying, to become the first Monaco player to win a tour-level title in the Open Era. He also became the third qualifier to win the Masters 1000, after Roberto Carretero (Hamburg 1996) and Albert Portas (Hamburg 2001).

"I felt that when I was behind, I had no choice but to show my full potential. In the first set, I couldn't do that and he played better than me. I took advantage of the first chance to break serve in the second set, and from then on the crowd became more enthusiastic, and we played more and more enthusiastically," Vacherot shared about his impressive achievement when coming back from a goal down.

The Monaco player is the eighth champion to win a tournament for the first time on the ATP Tour this season, and he is also the fifth male player in ATP Masters 1000 history to win his first career title at this level, after Jakub Mensik, who achieved the same feat earlier this year in Miami.

Vacherot leaves Shanghai, having risen 164 places to No. 40 in the updated ATP rankings and is poised to break into the Top 50 for the first time tomorrow (October 13). He also took home $1,124,380 in prize money after earning just $594,077 in his career before this fortnight.

"I just tried to beat the guy across the net. Think about it, it's my cousin, someone I trained with and grew up with. The match was very difficult, and he did better than me in the first set, overcoming the pressure. But I found a way to turn things around," Vacherot said of the developments when facing Rinderknech.

For two weeks, Rinderknech and Vacherot supported each other from the sidelines, cheering each other on and sharing words of encouragement, both in person and via a family chat group.

Vacherot has been in a prime position to witness Rinderknech's stellar performances, which have included wins over Top 20 opponents such as Alexander Zverev, Jiri Lehecka, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev. Today, he saw firsthand just how unbeatable his cousin is.

Rinderknech hit 12 winners and just two unforced errors in an impressive opening set performance. The 30-year-old quickly overwhelmed Vacherot and secured the decisive break of the first set in the third game, thereby taking the lead in their first head-to-head.

Vacherot responded in the second set. The 26-year-old kept Rinderknech deep behind the baseline, gaining the advantage on serve to control the tempo of the match. From 3-3, Vacherot broke Rinderknech repeatedly to take the lead, then continued to attack aggressively, hitting powerful slices to regain control. He won 92% of his first-serve points in the deciding set and committed just one unforced error, securing the biggest win of his career in 2 hours and 11 minutes.

Rinderknech moved up 26 places to No. 28 in the updated ATP rankings and will reach a career-high ranking tomorrow. The 30-year-old claimed his 100th tour-level win in the semi-finals, becoming the ninth Frenchman to reach a Masters 1000 final in the tournament's history.

Source: https://dantri.com.vn/the-thao/tay-vot-hang-204-the-gioi-vo-dich-thuong-hai-masters-20251012191416678.htm