Valentin Vacherot delivered one of the greatest underdog stories tennis has seen in the last decade at the Shanghai Masters.
Ranked 204th in the world prior to his campaign, Vacherot became the lowest-ranked player ever to win a Masters 1000 tournament, surpassing Borna Coric’s record from 2022.
The Monegasque star enjoyed a stellar run in Shanghai, defeating five seeded players en route to the final.
In the championship match, Vacherot played his cousin, Arthur Rinderknech, for the very first time at a tour-level event.
After coming back from a set down, he triumphed over the Frenchman to claim his first ATP title at a Masters competition, becoming just the fifth player in history to do so.
His run was astonishing, and included a semifinal victory over arguably the greatest player of all time, Novak Djokovic.
Valentin Vacherot recalls his bout with Novak Djokovic in Shanghai
Though Djokovic was dealing with physical issues, Vacherot still put on an incredible display against the Serb, beating him in straight sets, 6-3, 6-4.
Recalling the match on the ‘Nothing Major’ podcast, the 26-year-old said: “I cannot put any word on it. I mean, first of all, this is the match where the stadium was the most packed.
“He has such an aura in Asia. They love him over there. I think he loves this tournament more than any other. He won it like five times or something.
“The noise they made when he walked on court… all of those matches I was obviously walking first on the court, and when he came in, I think the stadium just like screamed all at once, it was just crazy for me. I had absolute goosebumps at the moment.
“It’s the match where I had the most respect for my opponent. Not feeling bad for him. Of course, he had physical issues, but yeah, I had to stay so focused. At some points, I wanted to say: ‘Are you okay? Do you need something?’
“It was just crazy to be facing him, and I think my reaction at the end of the match says it all.
“I had so much respect for him, I didn’t even want to say a word at the net. I just let him speak at the end. I just said just a few words.
“Just to step on court to play him was just such an honour, and I mean beating him, some people here [In Monaco], they don’t even tell me ‘you won the tournament’, but they say ‘you beat Djokovic’. It’s crazy.”
Valentin Vacherot’s results on the ATP Tour in 2025
Vacherot has played largely on the Challenger Tour in 2025, but he has featured at a number of big ATP events.
Having narrowly missed out on a place in the main draw of the Australian Open in January, Vacherot’s next attempt on the tour came in March at the Tiriac Open, a 250 competition in Romania.
There, Vacherot won his two qualifying matches but ultimately lost in his opening match in the main draw to Damir Dzumhur.
He then played at his first Masters tournament of the season in Monte-Carlo and picked up a win against Jan-Lennard Struff, but was denied a place in the round of 16 by Grigor Dimitrov.
Following two unsuccessful runs in the qualifying stages of Roland Garros and Wimbledon, Vacherot played in six more Challenger events before going on to win the Shanghai Masters.
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