Valentin Vacherot is on a one-man mission to breathe new life into the world of tennis.
The Monegasque won the Shanghai Masters despite heading to China without as much as a place in qualifying and put his name down as an alternate. After getting the call-up to try and qualify, Vacherot defied the odds to come through the field and win the Masters 1000 event.
Vacherot’s coach didn’t want him to go to Shanghai, and that notion now looks like a very silly one. The 26-year-old defeated Arthur Rinderknech in that final, and now, he’s on the charge once again at the Paris Masters.
After Vacherot beat Rinderknech and made history – this time at the Paris Masters, he was forced to face Carlos Alcaraz’s conqueror, Cameron Norrie and following another easy win, he could be about to change the landscape of the tennis world.
Valentin Vacherot could completely change tennis for the better
The all-action player has gone from being an unknown quantity to a player tennis lovers will eagerly anticipate watching play. Vacherot is setting new goals for himself after his recent success, but perhaps he’s laying down a sizeable marker for other players languishing down the world rankings.
Vacherot was the lowest-ranked player to win a Masters 1000 event since the series began in 1990, lifting the trophy as the world number 204. In lifting the title, he won a whopping $1.1 million, which was more than double the $500,000 that he’d won during his career to that point.
By winning in Shanghai, Vacherot climbed a staggering number of places in the rankings, and he entered the Paris Masters as the world number 39. Now, he’s reached another quarterfinal, and more wins might just see him climb even higher.
Naturally, the leap in rankings is brilliant on a personal level for Vacherot. He will get automatic entry into all of the Grand Slam and Masters 1000 tournaments next year, whilst the money he will start to earn will set him up for life.
However, what Vacherot probably doesn’t realise is that he could potentially change the landscape of tennis. For a host of players down the rankings, they will now look at the Shanghai Masters champion and think, ‘with a lot of determination and a little bit of luck, that could easily be me’.
Vacherot has kept turning up to events, headed to Shanghai when he wasn’t even an entrant in the tournament and kept showcasing the level of belief required to win a Masters 1000 event and that needs praising.
Tennis players all over the world will be looking at this story and hoping for their own 15 minutes of fame. That said, Vacherot is doing his level best to prove that Shanghai wasn’t a flash in the pan by enjoying another deep run in Paris.
Thiago Seyboth Wild is one player who should take inspiration from Valentin Vacherot
Wild’s drop down the rankings has been as disastrous as Vacherot’s rise has been brilliant. The Brazilian has been as high as number 58 in the world, but now sits all the way down in 193.
Wild only took part in the Australian Open this year, losing in qualifying at the French Open, Wimbledon and the US Open. As a result, his form has stuttered and he’s seen his ranking slide into oblivion this year.
Wild has won an ATP 250 previously, however, and in 2020, he shocked Casper Ruud to win the Chile Open, showcasing that he does have the talent but perhaps needs a little bit more belief in order to climb the rankings.
At 25-years-old, Wild is in a similar age bracket to Vacherot and although a number of players will be looking towards him for inspiration, perhaps the Brazilian star is one who can really look to emulate him and climb the rankings next year.
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