Family affair: 204th-ranked Vacherot stuns Djokovic and will face cousin in Shanghai final
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SHANGHAI (AP) — Two cousins will meet in the final of the Shanghai Masters after qualifier Valentin Vacherot stunned a hobbled Novak Djokovic and relative Arthur Rinderknech fought back to beat Daniil Medvedev on Saturday.
The 204th-ranked Vacherot earned the biggest win of his career by downing Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 and becoming the lowest-ranked finalist in ATP Masters 1000 history, the ATP said.
While Djokovic was aiming to add to his 100 career titles, the 26-year-old Vacherot will go for number one — against his cousin and fellow Texas A&M alum.
A couple of hours after beating Djokovic, Vacherot walked back onto the court and hugged Rinderknech to help celebrate his cousin’s 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 comeback win over Medvedev and relish the rare moment. Sunday’s final will be the first time the cousins have played each other on the ATP circuit.
“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,” the 54th-ranked Rinderknech said. “Now we are here, we fought through so many matches and somehow we are the guys standing at the end, so it’s just incredible.”
Vacherot, of Monaco, was an alternate in qualifying but is having a career week, which included a quarterfinal win over Holger Rune.
“Is this real? I don’t know,” the 26-year-old Vacherot said moments after defeating Djokovic. “To have Novak on the other side of the court was, first of all, an unbelievable experience for me.”
The 38-year-old Djokovic was slowed throughout the match by a sore hip. He took a medical timeout after falling behind 4-3 in the opening set. He won only one point in the next two games.
But the four-time tournament champion did not make an excuse of his physical struggles.
“It’s all about him,” Djokovic said. “I wish him all the best in the final, and the better player won today.
“Going from qualifications, it’s an amazing story,” the 24-time Grand Slam champion added. “I told him at the net that he’s had an amazing tournament, but more so his attitude is very good, and his game was amazing as well.”
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AP tennis: https://apnews.com/hub/tennis