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After stunning Djokovic and Rune, Valentin Vacherot targets bold 2026 milestone

Originally posted on HITC | By Liam McMillen | Last updated Oct 18, 2025 5:10 PM ET

Valentin Vacherot’s rise at the Shanghai Masters has quickly become one of the standout stories in tennis, and he’s already set his sights on what he wants to achieve by 2026.

Vacherot picked up wins over Novak Djokovic and Holger Rune on his way to lifting his first ATP trophy, beating his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final.

After finishing top of the rankings at the Shanghai Masters, Vacherot spoke about what he wants to achieve by 2026.

Valentin Vacherot shares his future goals after remarkable Shanghai run

Vacherot’s rise in the tennis world has been a slow burn. After climbing to No. 260 in the ATP rankings last year, he started to believe he could break through to a higher level.

But even with that belief, reaching this point still seemed like a long shot. “I think we all see it coming but not that fast,” he told More Than the Score. “Even myself, I was saying I want to play Masters 1000s next year but I knew it was going to be tough and it went fast.”

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His rapid ascent came as a surprise even to those closest to him. “A lot of people around me were saying it wasn’t possible and even if you’re close, there’s still some doubts,” he said.

“You need some luck also for those things sometimes and everything has gone really well.”

The three players Valentin Vacherot wants to play next

He explained that facing off against those guys is something he’s been looking forward to.

“My goal is to have the level as much as possible and even better,” he revealed on the BBC podcast. “I really wish that soon I’m going to have the chance to play the even better guys of that tour.”

The star then listed three stars he can’t wait to play following his scalps against Djokovic and Rune.

Valentin Vacherot lays out his ambitions for 2026

Beyond wanting to test himself against the top players, Vacherot also spoke about the mindset he’s taking into 2026.

“To have enjoyed every tournament that I’ve played on tour, to have given 100% every single match like I did in Shanghai and every single tournament.”

“Hopefully, bring more titles, more unreal wins against the best players in the world, and rankings-wise wise I cannot speak.”

“I don’t know. I don’t know how many points you need to get to 20, 30, this is all new to me, but we will see that next year.”

The only Grand Slam appearance Vacherot has made so far was at Roland Garros in 2024, where he exited in the first round after losing to Alejandro Davidovich Fokina.

This article first appeared on HITC and was syndicated with permission.

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