Valentin Vacherot became the lowest-ranked player in history to win a Masters 1000 title after defeating Arthur Rinderknech in the Shanghai Masters final.
The qualifier, ranked 204th in the world, came back from a set down against Rinderknech to claim his first tour-level crown, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Vacherot has enjoyed an incredible campaign in Shanghai, having overcome Holger Rune and Novak Djokovic en route to the final, and will now crack the ATP top 40.
Reacting after the match, the Monegasque star could not believe the historic feat he had just achieved.
Valentin Vacherot reacts to winning his first ATP title in Shanghai
“It’s unreal what just happened,” said Vacherot in his on-court interview. “I have no idea what is happening. I’m not in a dream. It’s crazy.
“I am so happy with my performance these past two weeks. I just want to thank everyone that has been with my career since the beginning.
“It’s really tough there has to be one loser. But I think there are two winners today. One family which won.
“For the sport of tennis I think this is unreal. I wish there could be two winners but unfortunately there is only one and fortunately for myself it’s me.”
Vacherot was playing Rinderknech, his cousin, for the first time at an ATP tour-level event.
“It’s just trying to beat the guy on the other side of the net. I was trying to put to one side that it was my cousin.
“It was really tough, he did a better job with me first set with coping with the pressure. He did a way better job than me. Just managed to find a way to turn that around.”
“I feel like when I am down, I have no choice. If I have a chance to win, I need to bring back my A game.
“In the first set I did not bring my A game. Arthur was playing better than me. The second set became a serve battle, I took it on my first chance to break, and from then the crowd started to get really involved.
“We put on way more of a show than we did in the first half of the match. I am happy with that for the crowd. It’s surreal to be with Arthur on this court.”
Valentin Vacherot makes history at the Shanghai Masters
With his victory, Vacherot is now just the fifth player to win his first ATP title at a Masters 1000 event since the format’s introduction in 1990.
He follows Roberto Carretero, Chris Woodruff, Albert Portas and Jakub Mensik in the exclusive list of players to manage the feat.
Vacherot is also just the third player in history to come through qualifying before winning a Masters tournament, joining Carretero and Portas.
His ranking will rise by 164 places, all the way to 40th in the world, surpassing stars such as Joao Fonseca and Corentin Moutet.
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