Valentin Vacherot Set for Shanghai Title Defence…

Valentin Vacherot makes his return to the Rolex Shanghai Masters with much greater expectation.

Last year, within a fortnight, Vacherot’s aim went from qualifying for the main draw to getting his hands on the trophy after remarkably making the final.

Qualification nearly took out Vacherot before he could even have thoughts of a title run, though. The Monegasque, who gained entry as an alternate, had to come back from a set down in both matches and was just two-points away from an exit against Liam Draxl in the final round of qualifying. He ended up reaching just his fourth ATP Masters 1000 main draw, and first outside of his home event, the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters.

Life in the Shanghai main draw did begin on a simpler note as Vacherot defeated Laslo Djere in straight sets for his second 1000-level match win, but the then 26-year-old was soon put to the test again, this time versus some of tournament’s seeds.

Vacherot found himself down a set in three of his next four matches (20^th seed Tomas Machac retired in round three) but came back on each occasion, earning comeback wins over Alexander Bublik (14), Tallon Griekspoor (27), and Holger Rune (10) en route to the semifinals. Prior to Shanghai, no Monegasque player had reached the quarters at an ATP Tour event.

Then, Vacherot was set for the biggest match of his career up to that point – a dream encounter with 24-time Grand Slam champion, Novak Djokovic. The world No. 204 was on the front foot throughout most of the semifinal contest, ultimately stunning an ailing Djokovic in straight sets to become the lowest-ranked finalist in Masters 1000 history.

Shanghai couldn’t have scripted the final any better. Only one win separated Vacherot from a historic title, and standing in his way was his own cousin, Arthur Rinderknech. The Frenchman also upset five seeded players on his way to his first 1000-level final, including come-from-behind wins against third seed Alexander Zverev and former world No. 1 Daniil Medvedev. It was the first time that the cousins, and former Texas A&M teammates, met in an ATP Tour match.

Then-world No. 54 Rinderknech forced Vacherot to spark his sixth comeback at the event after taking the opening set, and the Monegasque did exactly that. Vacherot broke late in the second as he served out the set, before breaking in the first and last game of the decider to complete the Cinderella story in Shanghai.

After leaving Asia as the lowest-ranked Masters 1000 champion in history, Vacherot jumped to No. 40 in the ATP rankings, where he eventually finished the year.

Now, in 2026, the 27-year-old has become a regular seed at “Big” events. Vacherot was seeded at every major he played this season (he withdrew from Wimbledon due to injury) and reached the semifinals at his home tournament in Monte-Carlo.

With the Asian swing well underway, Vacherot will look to prove that last year’s Shanghai title run was no fluke. This stage of the tour has already brought back that spark for the Monegasque as he came off a semifinal finish at the ATP 500 in Tokyo, earning a gutsy win over then-world No. 9 Arthur Fils to make the final four.

Vacherot will now bring a career-high ranking of No. 14 into Shanghai and look to make more magic in China’s Magic City.

Feature Photo: Sarah-Jade Champagne