World No. 204 Vacherot stuns unwell Djokovic to become lowest-ranked Masters finalist ever
NewsSaturday, 11 October 2025 at 12:13
Novak Djokovic lost in the semi-finals of the 2025 Shanghai Masters after physically struggling on the court throughout the match.
When the entry list for the Shanghai Masters and its qualifying was initially released, the name Valentin Vacherot didn't appear on it. Vacherot didn't make it even into the qualifying cut-off, so he was only an alternate.
But after plenty of withdrawals, the Monegasque player made it to the qualifying. He then beat Nishesh Basavareddy and Liam Draxl despite losing the first set to both, securing a spot in the main draw.
When that happened, no one probably expected that a week later, he would stand in the semi-finals, taking on the 24-time Grand Slam champion. But there he was, standing on the court, trying to get closer to a historic title.
Djokovic, on the other hand, was in a great position to win his first Masters title in two years, and possibly his last career title at such a level. His opponent was the world No. 204, and he could face a player outside of the Top 50 in the final as well. Coincidentally, Vacherot's cousin, Arthur Rinderknech.
Despite starting the match by breaking his opponent's serve, Djokovic was immediately broken back, and early on, he started struggling with his body. Already down 3-4, the Serbian player requested a medical timeout.
That didn't seem to help him, as he got immediately broken after returning to the court. Vacherot then served out the opening set to win it 6-3. Djokovic didn't look like himself on the court. He was struggling a lot to even stand on his feet after some of the rallies.
Still, the 38-year-old kept fighting. It was clear he was incredibly physically compromised, but he fought for every ball like it was the last ball in his career. Ultimately, he didn't have enough to take the match into the third set.
Vacherot won it 6-3, 6-4, becoming the first Masters finalist from Monaco and also the lowest-ranked man ever to reach the final of a Masters event. The Monegasque player didn't celebrate the win heavily, instead, he showed respect to his opponent at the net.
Despite toning down his celebrations, Vacherot was obviously happy. He has now earned more prize money in Shanghai than he has throughout his entire tennis career, and he will now try to take it one step further in the final. He was obviously incredibly happy after the final.
"How I got taught to live life where I grew up is to always keep your feet on Earth. Thanks to my parents, my family.. already when I was growing up, my brother Benjamin [Balleret] who’s over there.. he was playing on the Tour.. he was ranked for most of his career around 200 in the world."
"For me, that was already unreal to be 200 in the world. Now to be here… thank you to all the coaches at Texas A&M. They taught me the same thing. Just to work hard. This is probably where I learned how to be a professional tennis player and to stop playing just for fun. To really work as a professional and to be as high in the ranking."
"Thank you to the Monaco federation. We are such a small family. We are pushing each other… I just wanna say thank you to everyone who put a little brick into my career, because they taught me how to be down on earth and to fight. This is probably why I’m here today."
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