Valentin Vacherot delivered one of the greatest underdog stories in recent memory this year.
Vacherot, the world number 204 at the time, came through qualifying at the Shanghai Masters and won the tournament, earning a number of shocking upset victories en route to the title.
The Monegasque star defeated Holger Rune and Novak Djokovic on his way to the final, where he ultimately beat his cousin, Arthur Rinderknech, to hold the trophy aloft.
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He became the lowest-ranked player ever to win an ATP Masters 1000 title, and cracked the top 100 for the first time in his career.
It was a monumental feat, but Serena Williams’ former coach, Patrick Mouratoglou, says he did not find it that surprising.
Patrick Mouratoglou discusses Valentin Vacherot’s triumph
In a post on Instagram, Mouratoglou said: “What happened to Valentin Vacherot is a fairytale, it’s unbelievable because to be 300 in the world, losing to guys that at that ranking and suddenly from that point to winning a Masters 1000, to continuing to play at the same level.
“I think since he started to play in Shanghai, he’s playing [at] top 10 [level]. If you look at the results, he’s playing top 10 for sure, which is crazy. We need to understand what’s happening.
“Is it that surprising? Yes, of course. And no. Why not? First of all, because the level between 300 and 20 in the world is not huge. If you see a guy 300 in the world practice with a guy top 20, honestly, you don’t see the difference.
“I’ve always said that. But when they start to play points, this is where you see the difference. The progress of Valentin is not in his shots, it’s how he handles the matches.
“He’s confident, and confidence makes you think when you hit the ball that you’re gonna make it. When you don’t have confidence, you can’t hit the ball the same way.
“He attacks when he has the occasion. Before, he was very defensive or counter-punching but not really taking his chance. This is a decision that he took, and it started to pay off in Shanghai, so he continued to do it.
“For the moment, Valentin doesn’t feel the pressure because he’s playing and winning a lot. He has some kind of carelessness, the one that the young players have when they start going on tour and start to win, and they don’t think, which is great.
“He doesn’t think ‘I have expectations, or people expect anything from me’ because every time he wins a match, it’s another miracle, so he doesn’t have that, which is great.
“He doesn’t feel the pressure. When he’s going to be top 20, at some point, the pressure is going to kick in because he’s going to think, ‘Oh, I have a responsibility. I have to beat those guys. People expect me to beat those guys’.
“When he’s going to start to think like this, it’s going to be difficult. All the top players went through that. All of them. If you look at, for example, Joao Fonseca.
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“He went like a bomb, and then suddenly he has a responsibility, so he had some very difficult moments already.
“After a lot of first rounds lost in a row, he bounced back because he’s so strong and because he wants it so bad, but he already experienced this pressure that Valentin hasn’t yet.”
Valentin Vacherot’s results since winning the Shanghai Masters
Vacherot played largely at Challenger Tour competitions prior to his incredible triumph in Shanghai.
After that, however, he has featured in the main draw at two ATP Tour-level events, the first of which was the Swiss Indoors in Basel.
There, he was looking to build on his heroics in China, but he was narrowly defeated by Taylor Fritz in a tight three-setter.
Vacherot then entered the Paris Masters and managed to pick up three more wins, including a second victory over Rinderknech.
In the quarterfinals, though, he was beaten convincingly by an in-form Felix Auger-Aliassime.
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