Follow us on Google Discover Valentin Vacherot lost in the first round of an ATP Challenger tournament before going on to win the Shanghai Masters.
Vacherot beat Novak Djokovic to reach the Shanghai Masters final, after coming all the way through qualifying.
This set up a very surprising ATP final between two family members, which was the first time this has happened at any men’s tournament since 1991.
Vacherot would beat his cousin Arthur Rinderknech to win the Shanghai Masters, and has now won nine consecutive matches.
Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty ImagesRobin Bertrand: The ATP player who beat Valentin Vacherot before the Shanghai Masters
Due to his ranking at the time, Vacherot was playing lower-level ATP Challenger tournaments prior to the Shanghai Masters.
Vacherot has won four ATP Challenger titles in his career so far, but his last tournament of this calibre saw him lose in the first round.
That was at the St. Tropez Challenger, where Vacherot was drawn against French wildcard Robin Bertrand.
Bertrand has been ranked as high as world number 260, but at the time of playing Vacherot was outside the top 300.
Despite being the higher ranked player, Vacherot was unable to beat the young Frenchman, with Bertrand winning the match 6-4 3-6 6-4.
Bertrand has since lost to a player ranked outside the top 600, while Vacherot has become a Masters 1000 champion.
Top five lowest ranked players to beat Valentin Vacherot in 2025
Although Bertrand was outside the top 300 when he beat Vacherot, the Monegasque has actually lost to five players ranked even lower than him in 2025.
Vacherot’s lowest ranked defeat this year came to Jay Dylan Hara Friend, the Japanese player who was ranked outside the top 800 when they played in August.
There are two other players who were ranked outside the top 500 when they beat Vacherot in Daniel Cukierman and Hamish Stewart, the latter of which came via a retirement.
Vacherot has now made a huge climb up the rankings, and is now less likely to be competing against players lower down the rankings on the Challenger Tour.
It is unclear as to what is next for Vacherot, as he will need a wildcard for the remaining ATP Tour events this year.