PARIS – There appears to be no stopping Valentin Vacherot, who reached another Masters quarterfinal in Paris on Thursday by beating Cameron Norrie 7-6 (4), 6-4.
This month, Vacherot already made a stunning run through the qualifiers to win the Shanghai Masters for his first career title. He defeated 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals and defeated his own cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final.
“I never expected it,” Vacherot said. “It’s a good thing that I keep coming here, perhaps enjoying the matches even more than in Shanghai.”
40th-ranked Vacherot, from Monaco, defeated Rinderknech again in the second round here in Paris, setting up a match against Norrie after the British player eliminated top-ranked Carlos Alcaraz.
Vacherot had five aces and saved all five break points against Norrie, who dropped serve once.
Vacherot next faces ninth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime, who got past Daniel Altmaier 3-6, 6-3, 6-2. The win maintained Auger-Aliassime’s chances of reaching the eight-team, season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, Italy.
Fifth-seeded Ben Shelton defeated 12th-seeded Andrey Rublev 7-6 (6), 6-3 to set up a potential quarter-final with four-time Grand Slam champion Jannik Sinner.
Later Thursday, Sinner continued his bid to regain the No. 1 ranking when he faced Francisco Cerundolo. The unseeded Argentinian had won two of his five career matches but lost his two previous encounters indoors.
Sinner will return to No. 1 if he wins the tournament.
Defending champion Alexander Zverev also played Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, and fourth-seeded Taylor Fritz faced Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan.
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