Vacherot and Balleret React to Stunning Shanghai Success – Tennis Now

It was a family affair last week in Shanghai, as Valentin Vacherot, coached by his brother, defeated his cousin in one of the most unlikely Masters 1000 finals in history. 

For Vacherot, who sits at No.40 in the ATP rankings this week (up 164 spots!!), everything has changed. But he’s not quite ready to process the wild scenes that took place over the weekend. 

“I don’t know,” he told reporters after defeating Arthur Rinderknech in the final and tripling his career prize money haul in two weeks. “I don’t even understand why I’m sitting here right now. It’s crazy. I mean, I’m thinking I’m going to start realizing it in the next few days. Right now I just want to enjoy the moment.” 

With tennis royalty Roger Federer looking on courtside, Vacherot played the perfect final set, cracking 17 winners against two unforced errors, to overcome his cousin. 

Emotions ran high after the match as the two celebrated a win that was meaningful for the family, for Monaco (Vacherot is the first player from Monaco to win a Masters title), and for the millions of fans who became engaged with this fairy tale final. 

“I just got really, really emotional on the court after the ceremony with being up there with Arthur,” Vacherot said. “Just some unreal moments for both of us, for our family. Unfortunately, there was one winner. But our family won, and the sport of tennis won as well, because the story we just wrote is amazing, in my opinion. Yeah, the emotions were just everywhere after the match, yeah.” 

Balleret: “It’s Like A Movie”

Vacherot’s coach, Benjamim Balleret, was also having trouble processing the emotions. 

“I mean, we knew he could play good tennis, but of course what happened right now is just unexpected. We couldn’t believe he could win this tournament. It grows match after match,” he said.

Balleret talked about the craziness of his half brother winning a tournament in which Jannik Sinner and Novak Djokovic were in his half of the draw. 

“If I go a few days back, he won against Machac, and then he was just waiting for Jannik Sinner, to play against Sinner. And you’re like, ‘Okay, that’s a great story. He will play Sinner. Maybe he will get destroyed, but it’s a great tournament.’

“Then, okay, he doesn’t play Sinner. It’s one more match and then one more match. And then he plays Djokovic. And then you say, ‘Okay, unbelievable. He can play Djokovic once in his life.’ And he ends up beating a not 100 percent Djokovic, but still beating him.

“And just all the story to play Arthur in the final. I mean, it’s like everybody say, like a movie, like a fairytale. So that’s how we feel right now, in a fairytale.” 

Balleret, who formerly coached Gilles Muller and Pierre-Hugues Herbert, talked about what it was like to start from zero with Vacherot when he returned from Texas A&M where he played college tennis. 

“He came back in the summer of 2021. We went from there, from zero,” he said. “It’s also why you see so much emotion today. Because it’s a long way and sometimes you lose a little bit of faith. Bad losses. It’s difficult emotionally because it’s family, it’s not only a player you work with, which is already difficult because you want it so much. But when it’s your brother it’s even more.

“So there were some ups and downs. To be here in front of you guys today as Val is a Masters 1000 champion, it’s just unbelievable.”