Valentin Vacherot had tennis royalty watching him in the crowd of his Shanghai Masters final victory.
Vacherot was in disbelief after winning the Shanghai Masters, which is his only main ATP Tour title of any kind.
The Monegasque beat his cousin in the final, Arthur Rinderknech, who was very tearful when speaking to Vacherot after the match.
Vacherot made history in Shanghai, and his victory was made even more special by the attendance of 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.
Valentin Vacherot reveals that he met Roger Federer before the final
Federer is a two-time former champion at the Shanghai Masters, and still regularly visits the tournament since he has retired.
This year that has even included Federer making an on-court appearance in Shanghai for an exhibition match.
The former world number one was also in attendance for the surprise final between Vacherot and Rinderknech, and appeared to be watching on intently.
When speaking about this in his post-match press conference, Vacherot revealed that he actually met Federer before the final.
“Yeah, I met Roger this morning, that was a bit more important than my final to start the day with,” said Vacherot. “No, no, yeah, it was a really kind word for me, of course. Also to see him watch the match, the whole match was very special, yeah.”
When further questioned about Federer watching his match, Vacherot, who beat Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, admitted that he was sometimes a little distracted and kept looking at the Swiss.
“Yeah, I mean, I’m not going to lie, after winning or losing some points I had a little side eye to him, to see how he was reacting to some of the shots,” added Vacherot.
“No, I mean, it was amazing to have him out there. Whenever they were putting him on the screen I think it was making more noise than after some of the great points we played. That’s how amazing and great he is to the sport, and still now having stopped tennis for four, five years, I think.
“Yeah, I got to play Novak yesterday. I got to meet Roger today. I mean, even outside tennis, it’s just a crazy week just about that for me, yeah.”
Valentin Vacherot reacts to his new ATP ranking for the first time
After winning the penultimate Masters 1000 title of the year, Vacherot has been rewarded with a huge rise up the ATP rankings.
Despite climbing 164 places, Vacherot did not appear to know his ranking and had to be told by a member of the press that he would be the world number 40 on Monday, which was way above his expectations for this season.
“40? Wonderful. (Laughing),” Vacherot responded. “No, but, yeah, as I said, I still had the little goal before coming here to be top 100 before the end of the season. So I knew that it was going to take so much, because we know how hard it is to even win one Challenger. So I knew that if I wanted to be top 100 before the end of the season I had to win a few.
“It’s pretty crazy to say, but even this summer I had this tournament in my mind. I knew it was the biggest tournament before the end of the season that I will have my chance to get into with now the big draws in the qualifications. I knew I had a chance to get into it, and if I wanted to reach my goal of top 100 I had to do good here. Little did I know that’s what I would be doing here, I mean, yeah, it’s amazing.”
Vacherot was then questioned over his schedule for the rest of the season, but he suggested that he did not have a clear plan in mind right now.
“Next for me is, first of all, to just go home, see my family, see my friends, and celebrate all that with everyone,” said Vacherot. “Then the season is not over. There’s still a few weeks to play, so I will see where I will play.”
Vacherot is currently entered into a Challenger tournament in Seoul, but after admitting he is heading back to Europe it feels unlikely that he will play the lower-level event
Receive exclusive tennis news and updates twice a week to your mailbox
