Of all the runs that Valentin Vacherot could have embarked upon to win his first ever major tennis tournament, this was surely the most unlikely.
The world No. 204 had to navigate qualifying to even appear at the Shanghai Masters, then defeat four players all seeded far above him before stunning world No. 11 Holger Rune in the quarterfinals.
Next was the small matter of Novak Djokovic in the semifinals whom he promptly defeated 6-3, 6-4. And that secured his place in the final where, remarkably, he faced his cousin Arthur Rinderknech who had upset Daniil Medvedev in the other semifinal.
There, the 26-year-old defeated his cousin 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to become the lowest ranked player ever to win an ATP Masters 1000 title, capping a fairytale tournament for him, and his family.
They became the first cousins to compete against each other in a Masters 1000 final and the first family members since John McEnroe defeated his brother Patrick in 1991 at the Chicago Open, per Opta.
“Grandpa and Grandma would be proud,” Vacherot wrote on the camera lens afterward.
Both Vacherot and Rinderknech, who played college tennis together at Texas A&M, struggled to talk in their post-match interview, such was the overwhelming emotion of the occasion.
“It is unreal what just happened. I have no idea what is happening right now. I am not even dreaming, it is just crazy,” Vacherot said, per the ATP Tour.
“I am just so happy with my performances the past two weeks. I just want to thank everyone who has helped with my career since the beginning. There has to be one loser but I think there is two winners today. One family that won and I think for the sport of tennis, the story is unreal.”
Rinderknech, the favorite going into the match and the world No. 54, won the first set, conceding just two unforced errors and hitting 12 winners in a dominant display. But Vacherot rallied in the second set to level the match before making just one unforced error in the third to take the win.
Before this tournament, Vacherot had only won once on the ATP Tour, accumulating $594,077 in prize money throughout his entire career. Now, he is set to rocket up the world rankings into the top 50 and will pocket $1,124,380 in prize money for this tournament alone.
Rinderknech was also breaking new ground in Shanghai, progressing beyond the third round of a Masters 1000 event for the first time in his career but he was only able to focus on his cousin’s achievement afterward.
“To Valentin, my love, you just gave everything, I’m so happy for you, I hope we’re going to have more,” Rinderknech said afterward.
