Serbian tennis player Novak Đoković lost in the semifinals of the Shanghai Masters with a score of 2:0 to Valentin Vacherot. Đoković played the entire match injured, and it’s a miracle how he managed to endure the full encounter.
For a long time, Đoković resisted physical challenges at the Masters in China, but he couldn’t go any further…
To some, this might come as a shock, but the former world No. 1 was defeated by the tournament’s biggest surprise, the world’s No. 204 player from Monaco, Valentin Vacherot, 6:3, 6:4. Had he been healthy, everything would have been different, but…
In recent days, he struggled with fitness, leg cramps, and issues with his hip and ankle. Today, he also felt pain in his lower back. Neither pills nor massages from his physiotherapist had the desired effect this time. The humidity and high temperatures in Shanghai drained him completely.
Valentin Vacherot has had an incredible journey – he arrived in Shanghai as an alternate in the qualifiers and then went on to win seven straight matches before facing Novak: two in the qualifiers, against Basavareddy and Draxl, and then in the main draw, defeating Laslo Đere, Alexander Bublik, Tomáš Macháč, Tallon Griekspoor, and the 11th seed, Holger Rune.
He is the first player from Monaco to reach a Masters final and the lowest-ranked finalist in the history of the ATP 1000 series. He deserves full recognition for what he has achieved under conditions that have defeated many bigger names in world tennis.
What everyone in Vacherot’s camp is hoping for now is a family final – that his cousin, Arthur Rinderknech, who is playing against Daniil Medvedev in the other semifinal, will join him.
Indeed, Vacherot and Rinderknech are closely related. Valentin is the cousin of Rinderknech’s mother, Virginie Paquet, a former French tennis player.
There’s no doubt that after the victory over Đoković, there will be great celebration in both families, and how this Shanghai story will end remains to be seen.
Novak and Vacherot knew each other from before, from the time when the Serbian ace lived in Monte Carlo, but they had never met on court until now. It started interestingly — Đoković made the first break, but Vacherot immediately responded in the next game for 1:1.
However, it quickly became clear that Novak was again struggling with physical problems. He fell several times, and in the seventh game, it was evident that things were getting serious. At 4:3 for Vacherot, Đoković took a pill and called for medical assistance, receiving a lower back massage. Vacherot sensed his opportunity, attacked in the next game, and got the break, then routinely served out for 6:3 after 40 minutes of play.
The massages continued during breaks between games in the second set. Novak managed to survive the first game, saving two break points. Then, in the fourth game, he had 0:30 on Vacherot’s serve but lacked the strength to convert it into a break.
At 3:2 for his opponent, Novak had 15:30 but again faltered when he needed to push harder. Vacherot played more aggressively at the net and reached 3:3.
At 4:4, Novak simply ran out of steam. He made a double fault for 0:30, then strung together three points to bring the crowd to its feet for 40:30. But Vacherot pressed again — on break point, Đoković made another double fault, and that was the end. Although the four-time Shanghai champion had a break point and a chance to get back into the match, Vacherot held his nerve to win the next game, claiming the biggest victory of his career and his first ATP final.
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