Vacherot surges into Shanghai semifinals with family in tow

Under the humid glow of Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, Valentin Vacherot dropped to his knees, the roar of the crowd washing over him after nearly three hours of unrelenting combat. The 26-year-old qualifier had just orchestrated his fifth comeback from a set down at the 2025 Shanghai Masters, outlasting Holger Rune 2-6, 7-6(4), 6-4 in the tournament’s second-longest match. As the first player born in Monaco to reach an ATP Tour semifinal, he rose, wiped away tears of joy, and scrawled “Top 100!!” on the courtside camera lens, a raw declaration of his leap from No. 204 to No. 92 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

Rune’s early dominance set a blistering pace, his flat inside-out forehands skimming the medium-paced hard courts and forcing Vacherot into deep defensive positions. But the Monegasque steadied with deeper returns and underspin slices that slowed the rallies, creating space for crosscourt counters in the second set. In the tiebreak, Vacherot’s down-the-line backhand winners exploited the Dane’s fading movement, while the decider saw his one–two punch from the baseline pin Rune deep, turning physical attrition into a gritty edge.

Injury shadows fuel resilient climb

Last season’s right shoulder injury struck hard after Roland Garros in May 2024, leaving Vacherot just 30 points shy of the Top 100 at No. 110 on June 24. Sidelined for most of the final seven months, he competed in only two tournaments, retiring in the second round of qualifying at the US Open before his ranking slid to No. 140 by year’s end and bottomed out at No. 267 on June 23 this year. That descent demanded a mental reset, each idle week a reminder of lost ground as protected points evaporated without fresh victories.

Entering the Shanghai Masters ranked No. 204, Vacherot eyed a grueling slate of five Challengers to rebuild momentum, but fate intervened. He arrived in the city Thursday night, nine spots outside the qualifying draw, and learned less than 36 hours before Monday’s start that withdrawals had cleared his path—originally 22 spots beyond the cutoff. This unexpected entry, his first Masters 1000 main draw since a second-round loss in Monte-Carlo this April, transformed potential frustration into focused preparation on the outdoor hard courts, where his flat strokes could thrive amid moderate bounce and grip.

“I had a really tough one last year when I got hurt after Roland Garros in May, being 30 points away from the Top 100, just sitting on the couch, seeing myself not moving in the rankings, and then after going down,” he reflected. The psychological weight lingered through early-season defeats, but Vacherot’s qualifying triumphs—two comebacks—ignited a pattern of third-set surges, his slice backhands disrupting rhythms and inside-in forehands punishing errors. Now, as the first qualifier to reach the semifinals in this ATP Masters 1000’s history, he carries that rebuilt resolve into uncharted territory.

Family bonds anchor the breakthrough

Half-brother and coach Benjamin Balleret has guided Vacherot since 2022, their partnership rooted in starting from zero ATP points after his college return. Balleret witnessed the injury’s toll up close, a setback that reset progress just as the Top 100 loomed. “There was the injury last year and we were so close from the Top 100,” he shared. “You have to start all over again and so it was very difficult for him to accept. it’s a bit emotional because he’s my brother and I see him grow and I know that he wants it so much. Sometimes I feel he wants it too much. Also because we started from zero. He came back from college and had zero points. I believe in him, he believed in me. He believed in my experience to help him. So for all that it’s emotional.”

Cousin Arthur Rinderknech, facing No. 12 seed Felix Auger-Aliassime in Friday’s quarterfinals, watched from the player guest box, his presence amplifying the familial roar amid Shanghai’s electric atmosphere. The pair’s bond traces back to a 2006 Monte-Carlo Masters snapshot, Vacherot at 7 and Rinderknech at 10, a shared lineage that now fuels tour camaraderie. “I wasn’t doubting at all, but I was waiting for this moment for a long time,” Rinderknech said. “I can’t wait to have a full year with him on the Tour and the following years.”

Their college coach at Texas A&M, former ATP pro Steve Denton, caught the final two sets around 3 a.m. his time, marveling at the tactical poise. “He is quite a fighter and the thing I always admired about Val is he never gave up and he went for it in the big moments,” Denton observed. “It was great to see his resilience and he went for it late in the tie-breaker and that was ultimately the difference. I couldn’t be prouder of him and his brother Ben. They have been through a lot together and Val has learned his lessons well. He is ready.” Rinderknech echoed the grit, noting how Vacherot’s second-set tenacity exposed Rune‘s third-set physical dip in a sport where margins razor-thin variables decide outcomes.

A moment to remember @val_vacherot outlasts Rune 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4 to reach a maiden ATP Masters 1000 semi-final.@SH_Masters | #ShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/l29tKkSJsh

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 9, 2025

“I knew there was a big chance because Shanghai is the last Masters 1000 and a few guys, if you’re hurt at the end of the season, you are not taking risks. I knew it would drop,” Vacherot explained of his qualifying entry. That calculated risk now positions him against four-time champion Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, a matchup demanding even sharper adjustments—mixing underspin approaches to jam the Serb’s backhand and crosscourt redirects to counter baseline firepower. With family cheers echoing and crowd energy surging from the upset, Vacherot steps forward, his season’s scars forging a contender’s edge on these hard courts.