Valentin Vacherot’s seismic breakthrough at the Rolex Shanghai Masters is not over yet. The Monegasque qualifier defeated four-time champion Novak Djokovic in stunning fashion on Sunday to reach the championship match.
The number 204 player in the PIF ATP Rankings won 6-3, 6-4 against Djokovic to become the lowest-ranked finalist in the history of the ATP Masters 1000 (since 1990). Vacherot remained cool and calm throughout to skillfully take advantage of Djokovic’s physical problems, who twice received physio treatment on his lower back in the opening set.
Never stop believing?
World number 204 @val_vaherot defeats Djokovic to become the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 finalist in history.@SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/ha32DUf8Sc
— ATP tour (@atptour) October 11, 2025
Vacherot won 78 percent (28/36) of the points behind his first serve en route to the biggest victory of his career against world number 5 Djokovic. The 26-year-old has arrived in Shanghai as an alternate for qualifying and will face his cousin Arthur Rinderknech or Daniil Medvedev for the trophy on Sunday.
Vacherot, who ensured he would climb into the Top 100 for the first time on Monday by beating Holger Rune in the quarter-finals, has now risen 146 places to No. 58 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings as a result of his run in Shanghai. His career high, which he reached last June, is No. 110. The former college tennis player at Texas A&M University is only the sixth player this century to reach his first ATP Tour final at a Masters 1000 event, and the first to accomplish the feat since Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at the 2022 Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.
‘I don’t realize it [what’s happened]”, so I can’t give words about it,” said Vacherot. “This is just crazy. First of all, just being on the other side of the track [from Novak] was an incredible experience. I think I have so much to learn from this match, from him. Even for myself I have a lot to keep.
“It was an hour and forty minutes of pure joy, even though not many people wanted me to continue. He’s really appreciated here. He’s won four times. I got a bit lost in all his titles when they announced him, but it was a surreal experience. Now I’ll probably just enjoy the win tonight and think about tomorrow’s final.”
Vacherot seemingly suffered no nerves during his first Lexus ATP Head2Head match with Djokovic, even as the Serbian’s physical struggles played out across the net. He hit 23 winners to his opponent’s nine and didn’t blink when the break point came down in the final game, sealing the win before receiving words of encouragement from Djokovic as the pair embraced at the net.
While Djokovic typically dug deep to push Vacherot even as he struggled with his body, the former world No. 1 was unable to pull off another notable win at a tournament where he visibly struggled in the hot and humid conditions. Djokovic received treatment on his lower back in the opening set at 3-4 and was immediately broken in the next game, in which he acted cautiously.
However, Vacherot’s job was far from done and with Djokovic appearing to move more freely in the second set, the Monegasque made sure to take care of his own game to seal his victory. He was solid with his basic strokes from both wings and made his move on return in the ninth game.
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