From world number 204 to Shanghai Masters semi-finalist: who is Vacherot, the Monegasque who made history in China?

Valentin Vacherot’s run at the Shanghai Masters is, without doubt, the biggest story in tennis this week. The 26-year-old from Monaco has done more than just make headlines – he has put his tiny nation on the global tennis map, beyond the prestigious Monte Carlo Masters. After a stunning run to the semifinals in Shanghai, Vacherot now faces a daunting challenge: Novak Djokovic. Even more remarkably, his cousin, French player Arthur Rinderknech, could join him in the last four.

From the Challenger circuit to ATP revelation

Vacherot’s career began quietly in September 2015 on the ATP Challenger Tour and ITF Futures. It wasn’t until 2021 that he claimed his first professional title at the M15 event in Monastir – without dropping a single set. Along the way, he defeated fellow 2025 breakout star Terence Atmane. A year later, in 2022, Monte Carlo Masters organizers handed him a wildcard into the qualifying rounds, but he fell to Germany’s Oscar Otte. His ATP debut would have to wait.

That long-awaited debut finally came at home in the 2023 Monte Carlo Masters, where Vacherot received a wildcard into the main draw. Despite a valiant effort, he lost to Italy’s Luca Nardi in two tight sets, 7–5, 7–5. The setback proved motivating: later that season, he went on to win two more ITF titles in France, signaling that bigger things were ahead.

The breakthrough year

The 2024 season became Vacherot’s real launching pad. Early in the year, he captured back-to-back ITF titles in Nonthaburi, Thailand, breaking into the ATP Top 200 for the first time. Soon after, he lifted his maiden Challenger trophy in Pune, India. That same season, he made his Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros, falling in the first round to Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina. By midyear, he had reached a career-high ranking of No. 110 before a shoulder injury slowed his progress.

Riding the wave in 2025

This year, Vacherot has built on that momentum. He began 2025 with impressive Davis Cup wins over Portugal’s Nuno Borges and Jaime Faria, followed by a notable upset over Top-50 player Jan-Lennard Struff in Monte Carlo. Though he eventually lost in three sets to Grigor Dimitrov, it was clear that Monaco had found a genuine talent.

After helping his country in the Davis Cup tie against Cyprus, Vacherot has found the form of his life in Shanghai. Coming through qualifying, he has stormed past a series of established names – Laslo Djere, Alexander Bublik, Tomas Machac, Tallon Griekspoor and Holger Rune – to reach the semifinals of a Masters 1,000 for the first time. Now, Novak Djokovic stands as the final hurdle between him and a historic final appearance for Monaco’s new tennis hero, who continues to live out his own sporting fairytale.

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