Cousins Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech will meet in the Shanghai Masters final after pulling off stunning upsets of former champions Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals on Saturday.
Qualifier Vacherot – the world No 4 – beat a limping Djokovic 6-3 6-4, with the Serbian fourth seed taking medical timeouts during both sets.
Vacherot becomes the lowest-ranked player to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final since the series was introduced in 1990, and Sunday’s showdown will be a family affair after the Monaco player’s cousin sprung his own shock.
Hours later, Arthur Rinderknech knocked out former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev 4-6 6-2 6-4 to complete an extraordinary double.
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Highlights of Daniil Medvedev against Arthur Rinderknech from the Shanghai Masters.
“I can’t even say it’s a dream because I don’t think even one person in our family dreamt about it,” Rinderknech said about facing his cousin.
“It was a dream that came out of nowhere.”
After earlier beating Djokovic, Vacherot said: “This is just crazy… just to be on the other side of the court (with Djokovic) was an unbelievable experience.
“I got a bit lost in all his titles when they were announcing him, but it was an unreal experience. Now I’m probably just going to enjoy the win tonight and think about the final tomorrow.”
Djokovic broke Vacherot in the first game of the match, but the 26-year-old immediately broke back and built a 4-3 lead, when the Serbian took his first medical timeout.
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Watch as Novak Djokovic wins a sensational 28-shot rally despite struggling with hip injury earlier on in the match
Vacherot won the next two games with ease to secure the first set, and put Djokovic through a 12-minute battle for the first game of the second set which the 38-year-old managed to win after saving two break points.
A double fault led to Djokovic losing his serve as Vacherot took a 5-4 lead that tipped the set in his favour.
“I want to congratulate Valentin for reaching his first Masters final,” Djokovic said.
“Going from qualifications, it’s an amazing story. 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.
“So it’s all about him. I wish him all the best in the finals and the better player won today.”
Gauff faces Pegula in all-American Wuhan Open final
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Watch as Coco Gauff defeats Jasmine Paolini to reach the Wuhan Open
Coco Gauff’s struggles with her serve continued, but she overcame seven double faults to beat Jasmine Paolini 6-4 6-3 and reach the Wuhan Open final on Sunday.
Both top-10 players were struggling with their service games, but Gauff edged Paolini winning the battle of converted breaks seven-to-five.
The third-ranked Gauff fought back from three breaks in the second set and won the final four games to advance to the final, where she will face world No 6 Jessica Pegula.
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Highlights of Aryna Sabalenka against Jessica Pegula from the Wuhan Open.
Pegula fought back from 2-5 down in the deciding set to upset top-ranked Aryna Sabalenka 2-6 6-4 7-6 (6-2) and book an all-American showdown.
Pegula broke Sabalenka in the third set with the Belarusian serving for the match – and again to move 6-5 ahead. The American squandered two match points in the next game as Sabalenka levelled, but Pegula dominated the tie-break to seal victory after two hours and 20 minutes.
“For what I did In the tiebreak, I’m just really proud of myself,” Pegula said.
“I’ve played so much tennis the last few weeks, so many three-set matches, but I feel like I’m very tough right now.
“Playing Coco in a final here would be awesome. We know each other so well – there are no secrets. We know what our game plans are, and it’s just going to come down to who can execute it the best.”
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