Valentin Vacherot, ranked 204th in the world, defeated an injured Novak Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 in the Shanghai Masters semi-finals on Saturday, becoming the lowest-ranked Masters 1000 finalist in history. The Monégasque qualifier will face his cousin, Arthur Rinderknech, in Sunday's final after the Frenchman beat former world No 1 Daniil Medvedev 4-6, 6-2, 6-4.
Djokovic appeared to struggle with his left gluteal muscle from early in the first set and took a medical time-out at 3-4. Despite the crowd's support, the 38-year-old could not move properly and was unable to challenge Vacherot, who held his nerve to close out the match in one hour and 40 minutes. After the match, Djokovic told Vacherot: 'You deserve it. You deserve it, man. You played unbelievable.'
Vacherot, who entered the qualifying draw as the second-lowest direct entrant, has won eight matches over two weeks, including victories over 14th seed Alexander Bublik and 10th seed Holger Rune. 'This is just crazy,' he said on court. 'It was an hour and 40 minutes of pure joy, even though not many people wanted me to keep going.'
Rinderknech, ranked 54th, described the prospect of facing his cousin in the final as 'incredible'. 'I can't even say it's a dream because I don't think even one person in our family dreamed about it,' he said. The cousins both played college tennis for Texas A&M University, and after his win Vacherot signed a TV camera lens with the message: 'Aggies on top! Allez, Arthur!'
Djokovic had been aiming to become the oldest Masters 1000 champion, but his physical struggles continued a challenging week in which he vomited several times due to heat and humidity. With Carlos Alcaraz withdrawing due to injury and Jannik Sinner retiring from his third-round match, the draw had opened up, but Djokovic was unable to capitalise.
