Highlighting Player Features
Valentin Vacherot’s Shanghai Sensation: Five Astonishing Insights
Discover the extraordinary journey of this Monegasque talent at the tournament.
October 11, 2025
Lintao Zhang/Getty Images
Valentin Vacherot achieves a groundbreaking upset against World No. 5 Novak Djokovic, the first Top-10 win of his career.
By ATP Staff
Valentin Vacherot has etched his name into tennis history at the Rolex Shanghai Masters with a run that will be hard to forget.
Entering the tournament as a qualifier ranked No. 204 in the PIF ATP Rankings, Vacherot has taken the tennis world by storm, reaching the final of this prestigious ATP Masters 1000 event after conquering the legendary Novak Djokovic.
ATPTour.com presents five remarkable facts about the Monagesque’s astonishing journey.
Vacherot Sets Ranking Record for Masters 1000 Finalists
Before Shanghai, the lowest-ranked player to reach a Masters 1000 final was Andrei Pavel, who was No. 191 when he contested the Paris Masters final in 2003. Vacherot has now surpassed that, becoming the first player outside the Top 200 to reach a Masters 1000 final.
A Historic Milestone for Monegasque Tennis
No player from Monaco had ever made it to the quarter-finals of an ATP Tour event, let alone the final of a Masters 1000. By defeating Djokovic, Vacherot not only secured his place in history but also marked his first Top 10 victory.
Following this achievement, he is set to make his Top 100 debut and currently stands at No. 58 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
Surprising Upset Artist
Throughout this incredible tournament, Vacherot has claimed three victories against Top 20 players—eliminating No. 17 Alexander Bublik, No. 11 Holger Rune, and No. 5 Djokovic. He is only the second player in this century ranked outside the Top 200 to achieve three wins over Top 20 opponents.
The first was No. 205 Tim van Rijthoven, who claimed three victories against Top 15 players to win the title in ‘s-Hertogenbosch in 2022.
Near-Perfect Performance Against Top 50 Opponents
With his dramatic win over Djokovic, Vacherot boasts a 7-1 record against Top 50 players in 2025. Five of these victories occurred in Shanghai, including wins over No. 31 Tallon Griekspoor and No. 23 Tomas Machac.
This year, he has also triumphed over No. 37 Nuno Borges in the Davis Cup and No. 49 Jan-Lennard Struff at the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. Prior to his run in Shanghai, he had only one career ATP Tour victory and a record of 1-5 in main draws. His only loss this season to a Top 50 opponent was a close three-set match against Grigor Dimitrov in Monte-Carlo.
Seventh Player in Two Decades to Reach Maiden Masters 1000 Final
Vacherot joins an exclusive list of six players this century who have reached their first ATP Tour final at a Masters 1000 event, becoming the seventh. He now stands alongside Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Dusan Lajovic, Filip Krajinovic, Jerzy Janowicz, Radek Stepanek, and Max Mirnyi, all of whom reached this significant milestone without winning the title. Vacherot aims to change that narrative.
