Tears were shed by both the winner and vanquished, the Chinese crowd at Shanghai Masters broke into long applause and French flowed with emotion as two cousins battled in the ATP Masters 1000 event. Finally, Monaco's world number 204 Valentin Vacherot completed a fairytale run, coming back from a set down to defeat his cousin, Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in for his first ever ATP title. Now besides Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc, Monaco have found a tennis star. After receiving his trophy, Vacherot stood aside as Rinderknech broke into spontaneous French translated to, 'Valentin, moi cousin amore (Valentin, my darling cousin), (thankyou) for everything, (coach) Benjamin Balleret Bravo. Incredible. Two cousins are stronger than one. You won today. Bravo. I gave everything. I couldn't have done more. But you deserved it so much. I'm so happy for you. I hope we're going to have more success. It's only the beginning," he said. Vacherot is coached by Benjamin Balleret, who is his half-brother and is a former tennis player from Monaco who had lost to Roger Federer at Monte Carlo Masters in 2006. Nobody from Monaco, technically a different country, had won an ATP title before this, as Vacherot, 26, set a record as the lowest-ranked player to triumph at an ATP Masters 1000 event. The event had everyone from Sinner to Djokovic playing, with the Serb losing to the Monegasque Vacherot, who remained overwhelmed with the mammoth occasion and had a bigger payday than his entire career earnings ($1.12 million as against $600,000). He also shot to Top 40 in the world. Rinderknech, currently 54th, will also strangely step into the top 40. Cousins who made history together 🥹@arthurrinder @val_vacherot #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/0IASJgq9dF — Tennis TV (@TennisTV) October 12, 2025 "I'm just all like, crying, it's just, it's unreal what just happened. I have no idea what's happening right now, I'm not in a dream, it's just crazy. I'm just so happy of my performance these past two weeks," Vacherot said. "I think there's just two winners today, one family that won, and I think for the sport of tennis, this story is just unreal. I wish there could be two winners, but unfortunately there's only one, and for myself, I'm really happy that it's me." Vacherot had swept aside 24-times Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic while Rinderknech overcame 2021 U.S. Open winner Daniil Medvedev, even as Roger Federer watched from the stands. The two cousins even trained together ahead of the final, just like they have been doing for years. "That it's the guy that I've been training with in Texas A&M (University), that I've been growing up with on vacation and everything," Vacherot said. "It was really tough, he did a better job than me in the first set . And yeah, just find a way to turn that around and then make the match a little bit myself towards the end." After the win, Balleret and Federer shook hands even as Vacherot grabbed a red-and-white Monaco flag and displayed it on court writing, “Grandma and Grandpa would be proud” on a courtside camera. “I tried to put it to one side that it’s my cousin, the guy that I’ve been growing up with,” Vacherot said. “In the first set I didn’t bring my ‘A’ game and Arthur was playing better than me.” Rinderknech after the first set suffered heavy cramps and needed to sit down after giving his runner-up speech. The two had previously played just once at Futures tournament in 2018, with the Frenchman winning, but never played in an ATP before this.
