Valentin Vacherot produced one of the great tennis stories recently, winning the Shanghai Masters title while ranked 204 in the world.
Vacherot, who defeated his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final, became just the third qualifier in history to win a Masters 1000 title.
He also became the lowest-ranked player to win a Masters 1000 title, and the first Monegasque player to win an ATP Tour.
Vacherot, who is now ranked 39th in the world, defeated Alexander Bublik, Holger Rune and Novak Djokovic on his way to the title.
One of these players, Bublik, has reacted to Vacherot’s success.
Alexander Bublik reacts to Valentin Vacherot’s success
During an interview with Tennis TV, world number 16 Alexander Bublik was asked what the Shanghai Masters final means for the ATP Tour.
“I guess if he’s able to win a Masters, that’s our fault, all of us,” Bublik replied.
“We failed, we didn’t get ready enough for the Masters, all of us. Anyway, like he cracked how many top 20 players? Two top 10. He won a Masters.
“On the other side, it was Arthur [Rinderknech] killing everyone, so I guess it’s a question to us – why we are in Shanghai at the end of the season, half of us won a lot of titles, half of us maybe won a couple of Slams, Masters and we were not able to stop those two guys.
“That’s a question to us, I guess, and the level between, once Carlos and Jannik are not there, this what’s happening.”
Bublik wins his opening round in Vienna
On Tuesday, eighth seed Bublik won his first round match at the Vienna Open – an ATP 500 tournament.
The Kazakhstani player defeated Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo 6-4, 6-4 and will face Argentina’s Francisco Cerundolo in the next round.
Bublik will hope to end his year on a strong note after capturing four ATP Tour titles.
In 2025, the 28-year-old has won titles on all surfaces – in Halle, Gstaad, Kitzbuhel and Hangzhou.
