Valentin Vacherot booked his place in the Monte-Carlo Masters quarterfinals in incredible fashion.
The 27-year-old, ranked 23rd in the world currently, came back from a set down in his round-of-16 matchup with Hubert Hurkacz to advance to the last eight at the clay-court tournament.
Vacherot has also beaten Juan Manuel Cerundolo and fourth seed Lorenzo Musetti in Monte-Carlo, and will now take on Alex de Minaur for a place in the semifinals.
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A quarterfinal finish guarantees his joint-best finish at an ATP Masters 1000 event since his shocking triumph in Shanghai last year.
Six months on from that feat, Vacherot has just made history again at the Monte-Carlo Masters.
Valentin Vacherot achieves historic feat in Monte-Carlo
By earning a comeback win against Hurkacz in the third round, Vacherot became the first Monegasque ever to reach the quarterfinals in Monte-Carlo, according to Opta Ace.
Vacherot became the first from the city-state to hoist an ATP Tour singles trophy in Shanghai, and now he is breaking records at his home tournament.
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With his campaign thus far, Vacherot has moved up four places in the live ATP rankings to 19th in the world.
Having cracked the top 20, he will now have the chance to go even further with a win over De Minaur, whom he has never faced at a tour-level event.
Alex de Minaur’s campaign in Monte Carlo so far
De Minaur, seeded fifth at the Monte-Carlo Masters, has struggled to dominate in the early rounds of the tournament.
In his opening matchup against Cameron Norrie, the Australian had to win a tiebreak to clinch the opener, and was forced to a decisive third set before getting the job done.
He was then tested against young Belgian star Alexander Blockx, but ultimately came out on top in straight sets, 7-5, 7-6.
Since winning the Rotterdam Open, De Minaur has suffered early exits in Acapulco, Indian Wells and Miami.
De Minaur is looking to match his semifinal finish from last year’s edition of the Monte-Carlo Masters.
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