After Beating Novak Djokovic and Winning Shanghai Masters in Front of Roger Federer, Valentin Vacherot Sums Up ‘Crazy Week’
Valentin Vacherot clinched his career’s first tour-level title by denying cousin Arthur Rinderknech his first singles title.
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Roger Federer, Valentin Vacherot, Novak Djokovic (Image via X/Tennishead, PrensaFutbol, Novak Djokovic)
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While Valentin Vacherot, in the Shanghai Masters final, was clashing with his cousin Arthur Rinderknech, another Shanghai champion was watching the match from the stands of Qizhong Stadium. It was Roger Federer, who has been coming to the Chinese city since his retirement at the 2022 Laver Cup.
Federer participated in an exhibition event, where he teamed up with actor Donnie Yen and they beat the pair of actor Wu Lei and former WTA ace Zheng Jie. The match was held on October 10, and two days later, Vacherot clashed with Rinderknech.
Roger Federer watching the Shanghai final 😎 pic.twitter.com/2Q8d0FWQrT
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) October 12, 2025
En route to his maiden tour-level triumph, the 26-year-old knocked out the tournament’s most successful player, Novak Djokovic, in the semifinals in straight sets. Djokovic was not the only seeded player whom Vacherot eliminated because, prior to the Serb, Holger Rune, Tallon Griekspoor, Tomas Machac, and Alexander Bublik were his opponents.
It’s crazy to say, but even this summer I had this tournament in mind. I knew it was the most important tournament before the end of the season, where I would have the opportunity to enter, now that there are big draws in qualifying. I knew I had the chance to get in, and if I wanted to achieve my goal of being in the top 100, I had to do well here. But, of course, I had no idea that this was what I would do here.
Valentin Vacherot said at the press conference
To sum up Vacherot’s Shanghai run, he entered the tournament as an alternate and was ranked No.204, and thanks to the late withdrawals of some qualifiers, he got the chance to play and survived from the brink of elimination to secure a spot in the main draw event in the tournament for the first time. After completing the fairytale, he is standing at a career-best No.40.
I’m not going to lie, after winning or losing some points, I glanced at him to see how he reacted to some of the shots. It was amazing to have him there. Whenever he was shown on screen, I think it caused more commotion than after some of the great points we played. That’s how incredible and great it is for the sport, and even now, after leaving tennis for four or five years. Yesterday, I played against Novak Djokovic. Today, I met Roger Federer. All in all, it’s been a crazy week.
Valentin Vacherot added
Vacherot is the first Monegasque to win a Masters 1000 tournament and is also the lowest-ranked to win a tournament of this level since 1990.
Valentin Vacherot scripts history after Shanghai Masters win
Before this fortnight, the only time Valentin Vacherot won a tour-level match was at the Monte Carlo Masters this year. He has almost doubled his career earnings because prior to the Shanghai Masters win, he had collected a total of $594,077 in prize money.
Vacherot is also the first ATP player to reach a Masters 1000 final. As it was Vacherot’s first tour-level tournament win, he has become only the fifth man to clinch his career’s first singles title in a Masters 1000 event. The fourth player to achieve this was Jakub Mensik, the winner of the Miami Open this year (beat Novak Djokovic).
The win over the Serb made Vacherot the first player from Monaco to earn a top-10 win. This is also the third time in the history of the Masters 1000 tournament where two unseeded players reached the final.
Because of his rankings, Vacherot won’t have to play the qualifying rounds of the Paris Masters, the season’s last Masters 1000. The indoor hard-court Paris Masters is scheduled to start on October 27.
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