Cousins to clash in improbable showdown in Shanghai

A storybook ending is coming to Shanghai on Sunday as cousins Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot meet in a highly improbable final at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

It is the first ATP Masters 1000 final for both men and Vacherot, at No. 204, is the lowest-ranked finalist in Masters 1000 history. It will also be the first head-to-head meeting between France's Rinderknech and Monaco's Vacherot.

Vacherot, a qualifier, stunned four-time Shanghai champion and No. 4 seed Novak Djokovic of Serbia 6-3, 6-4 in one hour and 43 minutes in Saturday's first semifinal.

"This is just crazy," Vacherot said after the match. "First of all, to just be on the other side of the court (from Djokovic) was an unbelievable experience. I think I've got so much to learn from this match, from him."

Rinderknech, also unseeded, rallied for a 4-6, 6-2, 6-4 victory against 2019 Shanghai winner and No. 16 seed Daniil Medvedev of Russia in two hours and 30 minutes.

The cousins, who both played college tennis at Texas A&M, embraced courtside after Medvedev double-faulted to end the match.

"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," Rinderknech said. "So it wasn't a dream. It's just a dream that came out of nowhere. We started believing it, I would say, in the quarters, maybe ...

"Now we are here, we fought through so many matches and somehow we are the (two) guys standing at the end, so it's just incredible."

Rinderknech, 30, will be playing in his second career ATP Tour final, having lost at Adelaide in 2022. He is the ninth Frenchman to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final.

Vacherot, 26, is also seeking his maiden title in Sunday's family affair.

"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."

Previously, the lowest-ranked player to reach a Masters 1000 final was No. 191 Andrei Pavel at Paris in 2003.

In addition to defeating World No. 5 Djokovic, Vacherot also defeated No. 11 Holger Rune and No. 17 Alexander Bublik this week. The only other player ranked outside the top 200 with three top-20 wins in a single season this century was Tim van Rijthoven of the Netherlands in 2022.