There were no losers on Sunday in Shanghai, just a pair of cousins laying their hearts on the line in one of the most improbable finals in Masters 1000 history.
In the end it was world No.204 Valentin Vacherot who defeated the cousin he’d always looked up to for inspiration and guidance. The Monagesque took out Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to complete a dream run that saw him become the first player from Monaco to ever win an ATP title.
“It’s unreal what just happened,” Vacherot said. “I’m just so happy with my performance over these last two weeks. I think there are two winners today – one family that won – I think that for the sport of tennis the story is just unreal.”
Vacherot, who came from a set down in six of his nine wins in Shanghai (including qualifying matches), becomes the lowest-ranked champion in Masters 1000 history and the fifth player to win his first ATP title at the Masters level.
He will rise 164 spots to No.40 in the ATP live rankings tomorrow.
It was his older cousin who took charge early, converting the only break point he saw and racing through the opening set, 6-4.
But 26-year-old Vacherot was undaunted.
“He did a better job than me in the first set, dealing with the pressure, he played a lot better than me,” Vacherot said of the first set.
He rallied from 3-0 down, winning the final six games of the middle set, then played about as perfectly as possible in the third set.
Vacherot finally made an unforced error in the eighth game of the decider, after clocking 14 winners in the set and moving ahead by a break. In total he hit 17 winners against two unforced errors in the final set.
“In the first set I didn’t bring my A game,” he said. “It’s just surreal to be with Arthur on this court.”
The Monagesque made another error, but closed the game with a forehand winner to hold for 5-3. He quickly captured the upper hand in the next game, breaking Rinderknech to close out his victory in two hours and 14 minutes.
He finished with 29 winners against 19 unforced errors, while Rinderknech hit 38 winners against 26 unforced.
“I wish there could be two winners, unfortunately there’s only one,” an emotional Vacherot said.
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