In her latest Sky Sports column, Gigi Salmon reflects on Valentin Vacherot’s fairy-tale success in Shanghai as he defeated his cousin Arthur Rinderknech to win the biggest title of his career. The world No 204, who beat four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, came from a set down for the sixth time in the tournament to win 4-6 6-3 6-3.
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Highlights of the Shanghai Masters final between COUSINS Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot!
There are many reasons to love tennis, the sport itself, the characters, the venues, the drama, the storylines and something that not a lot of sports have, the fairy-tales. ‘Where were you when’ – four words that I have definitely uttered more than once, probably and most notably when Emma Raducanu came through qualifying to win the US Open without dropping a set, back in 2021.
The latest improbable storyline to be played out took place in Shanghai at an ATP Masters 1000 event, with a field that included Jannik Sinner, Novak Djokovic, Sascha Zverev, Taylor Fritz and Daniil Medvedev, being watched courtside by legendary former champion Roger Federer.
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Six main draw rounds later and Sunday’s final would be played out between cousins, Arthur Rinderknech of France – the world number 54 – and the Monegasque Valentin Vacherot – ranked 204 – who, when the original draw was made for the qualifying event, wasn’t even in it. He arrived as an alternate hoping a spot would come up.
Nine players would go on to withdraw and nine matches later, during which he would come from a set down SIX times, beating Djokovic in the semi-finals, Vacherot’s life has changed forever!
He crossed the finish line 6-3 in the third to become the lowest-ranked man in history to win a Masters 1000 title, moving from 204 in the world to number 40 and claiming his first tour title after entering the tournament with just one tour level win to his name.
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Take a look at Arthur Rinderknech’s emotional speech to cousin Valentin Vacherot following their Shanghai Masters final…
Vacherot who admitted afterwards that he was starting to lose faith this year, was two points from defeat in the second round of qualifying, but leaves Shanghai having doubled his career prize money with the title and a cheque for £824,000.
Rinderknech said before the final, “tomorrow there will be two winners anyway, we won everything, we couldn’t win anymore as they played out the undreamable dream”.
And for The Frenchman’s part he moves to a career high ranking of 28 which would see him seeded at the Australian Open in January, notching up wins against Zverev and Medvedev and reaching his first Masters 1000 final, having never been past the third round of a masters before last week.
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During the ceremony as Rinderknech was cramping and had to quite literally crawl on his hands and knees from the stage, his cousin spoke of what it has taken to get where he is. Vacherot said: “it took me a while to follow you into the top 100 but now we will be together”.
Dreams can come true, fairy-tales are not just things you read about in fictional stories, they happen in tennis, which 26-year-old Valentin Vacherot will attest to after a life-changing two weeks in Shanghai!
How many more for Djokovic after mental and physical battles?
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Djokovic battled fatigue in brutal conditions at the Shanghai Masters…
Djokovic faced his own mental and physical battles in tough Shanghai conditions, receiving treatment twice on his lower back in the opening set of his semi-final against Vacherot. It was the 11th tournament of the year for Djokovic, with a win-loss record now of 35-11. The question is how many more will he play this year?
He is entered into the ATP 250 in Athens in November which makes sense as his family recently relocated to Greece and his family own the licence to the tournament, but what about Turin the ATP Tour Finals, the showpiece event? He is currently third in the race and will comfortably qualify if he wants to play.
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Highlights of Novak Djokovic against Vacherot from the Shanghai Masters
Some may say what does he have to lose? Why not with others battling injury and fatigue? While others may say that away from the oppressive heat and humidity, indoors in Turin he might have his work cut out against Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner. We shall have to wait and see.
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ATP and WTA Finals taking shape
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Highlights as Jannik Sinner won the China Open – just 24 hours after Carlos Alcaraz’ triumph in Japan
The end-of-year line-ups are coming together a touch slower for the men, with only two players having reached the ATP Finals qualifying mark in Alcaraz and Sinner. As things stand if Turin was this week joining them – if willing and able – would be Djokovic, Zverev, Taylor Fritz, Ben Shelton, Alex de Minaur and Lorenzo Musetti, with Jack Draper having slipped to ninth in the race and currently sidelined with injury.
Remembering that we still have the final Masters event to come in Paris together with a week of 250s followed by a week of 500s in the lead up to events in the French capital, so still a lot to play for.
Things are a lot more settled in the Race to Riyadh for the WTA Finals with Jessica Pegula the latest player to book her spot on the plane following her run to the final in Wuhan giving us a total of six of the eight spots claimed.
Other players include Aryna Sabalenka, Iga Swiatek and Wuhan winner Coco Gauff, who at the age of just 21 has 11 titles to her name, including two Grand Slam titles and three at 1000 level.
Wimbledon and US Open finalist and more recently Beijing winner Amanda Anisimova will be there, alongside Jessica Pegula and Madison Keys, who while she hasn’t reached the required total, qualifies as the Australian Open Champion.
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Mirra Andreeva has a unique way of warming-up with tennis balls!
In all likelihood it will be two from Mirra Andreeva, Jasmine Paolini and Elena Rybakina, who are in action at the WTA 500 in Ningbo this week, which you can watch unfold on Sky Sports Tennis.
Someone who looked like a shoo-in for Riyadh, but who is now teetering on the brink of dropping out of the top eight, is Andreeva. The 18-year-old had a stellar first half of the season with the back-to-back 1000 wins in Dubai and Indian Wells, and there were five quarter-finals that followed, including at Wimbledon. But since she got back onto the hard courts there have been just five wins in four tournaments, and more worrying than the lack of wins has been the emotional turmoil she seems to be going through on court, most recently when losing to the veteran Laura Siegemund in her first match in Wuhan. Are they tears of frustration, exhaustion or the pressure of trying to qualify for the finals?
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Sky Sports’ Laura Robson and Tim Henman answer your burning questions about the state of British tennis and much more
While speaking about the Finals we have to mention the five Brits who have already qualified for Turin.
Julian Cash, Lloyd Glasspool, Henry Patten, Neil Skupski and Joe Salisbury will be among the best eight doubles pairs at the Finals. It is an incredible achievement and we look forward to speaking to them all across the finals and bringing all the matches to you.
For those worried about Alcaraz and his participation in the season run-in after damaging his ankle in Tokyo, he recently said while out on the golf course in Spain with a big smile on his face that it is recovering nicely. Giving his ankle time to heal and a chance to freshen up and play some golf was a good call!
How is everyone feeling about court speeds?
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Alexander Zverev says he ‘hates’ playing on courts that all have the same speed and believes tournament directors are favouring Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz
Sascha Zverev isn’t happy as he recently said in Shanghai when asked about the speed of the court: “I hate when it’s the same. I know that the tournament directors are going towards that direction because obviously they want Jannik and Carlos to do well every tournament, and that’s what they prefer.”
And while Zverev’s comments caused quite a stir, when Roger Federer was asked about court speeds and how they have changed on a recent episode of Andy Roddick’s podcast ‘served,’ he said grass, clay or hard courts – due to the ball and court speed – pretty much play all the same. Not a word from anyone!
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If you want a deeper dive as to what speeds have changed how and where, it’s worth following Matthew Willis on X.
There are also a lot of factors to take into consideration outside of the court speed. Who you are playing, what balls you are using, and where you are playing. But to put it in basic terms, the reason Sinner and Alcaraz are so successful is the way they play and how they play and adapt to the courts that they are faced with.
Double header in Riyadh and Turin
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Jack Draper is aiming to return to competition at the UTS London Grand Final at the Copper Box Arena from December 5-7
For our Britwatch, it’s great news that Jack Draper feels he’s ready to be back in action at an exhibition in December. It will be a good test for his arm ahead of going into pre-season ahead of a campaign where he will have a lot of tennis to play and a lot of points to defend.
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Highlights as Sonay Kartal stunned Mirra Andreeva against at the China Open
Emma Raducanu is nicely placed at 29 for a seeding at the Australian Open at the start of next year and is due to play in Ningbo and then Tokyo at the end of this month. And how about Sonay Kartal – up to 58 in the world and having recently beaten Daria Kasatkina, Maya Joint and Mirra Andreeva in Beijing.
As you know if there’s tennis on you can find it on Sky Sports Tennis and I’m happy to say that I will be reunited with Tim (Henman) and Laura (Robson) for our double header in Riyadh and Turin, while we will also have a team in Paris for the Masters 1000, so all bases covered and as always we look forward to your company!
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