The 2025 Rolex Shanghai Masters delivered one of the most extraordinary days in ATP Masters 1000 history on Saturday, as cousins Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech both pulled off seismic upsets to set up a family final. The Monegasque qualifier stunned 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 in the day's first semifinal, while the Frenchman came from a set down to defeat former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-2, 6-4. Sunday's final will mark the first time relatives have faced each other in an ATP Masters 1000 championship match.
Vacherot stuns unwell Djokovic
Valentin Vacherot's fairytale run reached its zenith Saturday morning when he became the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 finalist in history. The world number 204 dominated a physically compromised Djokovic, who received treatment from the physio twice in the opening set for lower back issues. Vacherot remained composed throughout the one hour and 42-minute encounter, winning 78 percent of first-serve points and breaking serve three times from six opportunities.
The 26-year-old seized control early, breaking Djokovic's serve in the opening set and never allowing the four-time Shanghai champion to settle into a rhythm. Djokovic appeared to move more freely in the second set after the medical timeouts, and momentarily seemed poised to turn the match when he won a grueling rally at 4-4, 30-30. However, the Serbian committed an ultra-rare double fault on Vacherot's advantage point, handing the qualifier a decisive break. Vacherot served out the match on his second match point, collapsing to the baseline with his hands to his face in disbelief. The Monegasque allowed his legendary opponent to produce just 12 pressure points throughout whole the match, clearing 9 of it. Besides all the obvious milestones achieved by Vacherot on that day, it was also his first ever win against top 10 ranked player - previous highest ranked defeated opponent was Holger Rune in Friday's quarterfinals.
Remarkably, this will be Vacherot's first ATP Tour final at any level, making him just the sixth player this century to debut in a final at the Masters 1000 stage, and the first since Alejandro Davidovich Fokina at Monte-Carlo in 2022. Having entered the tournament as a qualifying alternate who wasn't even on the original entry list, Vacherot will rise from 204th to 58th in Monday's rankings. If he captures the title, he'll climb to 39th and become the first qualifier to win a Masters 1000 since Albert Portas at Hamburg in 2001. The multiple Grand Slam champion missed the opportunity to grab his 5th title in Shanghai and biggest scalp in 2025 year during absence of all the highest seeds in later stages of the tournament. The Serbian displayed tremendous fighting spirit, overcoming pain and fatigue issues in all his previous matches this week, never feeling any close to his top fitness level.
Rinderknech completes comeback against Medvedev
Arthur Rinderknech's stunning week continued Saturday evening when he rallied from a set down to defeat Daniil Medvedev in two and a half hours. The 30-year-old Frenchman became the ninth French player to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final and will contest his second career ATP Tour final after losing in Adelaide in 2022. Most remarkably, Rinderknech saved all 10/11 breakpoints he faced across the final two sets to complete the comeback.
Medvedev broke Rinderknech's serve to love at 1-1 in the opening set and appeared determined to reach his first Masters 1000 final of the season. The 2019 Shanghai champion controlled the humid conditions better early, leaving Rinderknech physically drained after one set. The Frenchman admitted he was thinking about tiring Medvedev out for his cousin's sake rather than winning the match himself. However, a timely drop shot gave Rinderknech a 2-0 lead in the second set and suddenly momentum shifted. The Frenchman held his advantage till the end of second set, defending six breakpoints to force a decider.
The deciding set featured high drama at 3-3 when Rinderknech faced two break points. The Frenchman responded with booming serves down the T in the Ad court to hold, then consolidated with a love hold at 4-4 to serve for the biggest win of his career. Medvedev saved the first match point with a daring serve, but double-faulted attempting another big delivery on the second match point. The scene that followed was unforgettable as Rinderknech collapsed to the court in celebration while Vacherot, who had returned to watch from the stands, held his head in shock before rushing onto court for an emotional embrace with his cousin.
Rinderknech performed a tremendous effort to make this upset done - he faced huge amount of 41 pressure points in own service games in compare to just 19 produced on return. He won 29 of them and cleared all 9 breakpoints in second and third set, never allowing the favorized Medvedev to move up front on the scoreline in that phase of a match. The world number 54 will rise to 28th in Monday's rankings and could reach 22nd with a title victory. This was his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal and he reached the final by defeating four top 20 opponents in succession - 3rd Alexander Zverev, 19th Jiri Lehecka, 13th Felix Auge Aliassime and now 18th Daniil Medvedev.
Sunday's Final
The cousins, who played college tennis together at Texas A&M University, will now meet for one of the biggest titles in the sport. Both players have already exceeded all expectations this week. Vacherot entered qualifying as an alternate and has now won eight consecutive matches, while Rinderknech has strung together six victories including four over seeded opponents.
Neither player has won an ATP Tour title previously, though both have competed in finals before. Vacherot's best result in 2025 before Shanghai was reaching the Francavilla Challenger final, while Rinderknech fell short in the Adelaide final in 2022. Sunday's clash will determine not only who lifts the trophy but also which cousin secures their maiden ATP title at the sport's second-highest level. With both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz absent from the draw, this unprecedented family final provides a storybook ending to one of the most dramatic tournaments of the season.
The cousins, who played college tennis together at Texas A&M University, will now meet for one of the biggest titles in the sport. Rinderknech summarized the improbable scenario in post-match interview: "In the best dreams, we couldn't have dreamt about this, so I can't even say it's a dream, because I don't think even one person in our family dreamt about it. So it wasn't a dream, it's just a dream that came out of nowhere."
Both players have already exceeded all expectations this week. Vacherot entered qualifying as an alternate and has now won eight consecutive matches, while Rinderknech has strung together six victories including four over seeded opponents.
Neither player has won an ATP Tour title previously, though both have competed in finals before. Vacherot's best result in 2025 before Shanghai was reaching the Francavilla Challenger final, while Rinderknech fell short in the Adelaide final in 2022. Sunday's clash will determine not only who lifts the trophy but also which cousin secures their maiden ATP title at the sport's second-highest level. With both Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz absent from the draw, this unprecedented family final provides a storybook ending to one of the most dramatic tournaments of the season.
The statistical comparison from their main draw matches in Shanghai favorizes Rinderknech a little bit. Both rely on serve very much in their run winning more than 90% of their service games, having simillar records of first serve points (77% - 75% for Rinderknech) and second serve (both ~56.5%). The older of cousins excells in clutch moments - the resillience during breakpoints was his biggest weapon in that sensational run. He saved 86.7% of breakpoints in compare to Vacherot's 73.9% and converted 48.4% of return chances to Vacherot's 37.8%.
Rinderknech serves 8.3 aces on average per match in Shanghai to Vacherot's 7.3 - which is a promise of possible good serving fest on Sunday. Vacherot tops Rinderknech in terms of pressure points. The Monegasque faces 0.28 pressure points less on average in service games and produces 0.12 more on return, however the amount of Rinderknech's pressure points on serve is strongly related to today's huge effort done against Medvedev.
