Tennis cousins Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech return this week in the same tournament
The fairytale of Valentin Vacherot will continue this week after the unforgettable events of Shanghai Masters 2025, where the 26-year-old Monegasque, who was ranked World No. 204 at the beginning of the tournament and almost didn’t enter the tournament, beat all their rivals (often from one set behind), including Novak Djokovic in semi-finals, and ended up taking the big prize.
Vacherot jumped from World No. 204 to World No. 40 in one week, and earned $1,124,380, nearly twice than all his earnings from his career ($594,077). That would be an excellent story on its own, but it gets crazier because his rival in the Shanghai final was his cousin, Arthur Rinderknech, who also was far from favourite (was ranked World No. 56 before the tournament, and ended ranked 27 after being finalist).
Rinderknech, who won the first set, later fell out of shape and was left heartbroken at the final… but proud of his younger cousin, embracing him in a moment that delighted fans worldwide. And now, they will meet again in another tournament.
Vacherot and Rinderknech next tournament this week
This week, two ATP 500 tournaments take place, Vienna Open (with Sinner, Zverev, De Miñaur or Medvedev) and the Basel Open, with top seeded players that include Ben Shelton, Taylor Fritz, Casper Ruurd, Jakub Mensik, Alejandro Davidovich, and Joao Fonseca.
Vacherot and Rinderknech are also present in the Swiss Open. Vacherot, however, got unlucky as he has been paired with top seeded and World No. 4 Taylor Fritz for the opening match on Tuesday (time TBD).
Meanwhile, Rinderknech has a theoretically easier rival in Belgian Raphael Collignon, ranked 73, also on Tuesday. However, as we all were reminded in Shanghai, rank is just a number…
Rolex Shanghai Masters
