On October 11th, Valentin Vacherot stunned the tennis world by defeating Novak Djokovic in the Shanghai Masters semifinal as the World No. 204, then proceeding to win his maiden ATP title against Arthur Rinderknech. The Monaco native is currently competing in the Paris Masters, where he has just surpassed a key Roger Federer benchmark in Masters 1000 tournaments, placing him just behind Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
The 26-year-old advanced to the quarterfinals by defeating Cameron Norrie in straight sets. This victory pushed his Masters 1000 career win percentage past Federer’s, among players who have played at least ten matches. Vacherot also surpassed Carlos Alcaraz but remained ranked below Djokovic and Nadal.
The statistic, sourced from OptaAce since 1990, reveals the elite company: Carlos Alcaraz holds a win percentage of 77.8%, followed closely by Roger Federer at 77.9%, while Valentin Vacherot is now at 78.6%. Only Novak Djokovic (81.5%) and Rafa Nadal (82%) rank higher than the Monegasque.
Currently on a run of 12 consecutive victories in Masters 1000 tournaments, Vacherot is now preparing to face Canada’s Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals. Aliassime advanced after mounting a comeback victory against Germany’s Daniel Altmaier in three sets.
Vacherot acknowledges physical toll
The extended run of victories has meant Vacherot has played a significantly higher volume of matches than he was accustomed to just a month ago. He acknowledged the physical wear and tear in his post-match press conference after defeating Norrie.
“Evidently, I didn’t expect to advance in this way in this tournament, but luckily I continue in the draw, enjoying the matches much more than I enjoyed them in Shanghai,” explained the Monegasque, who is projected to crack the World No. 30 ranking next week.
“It’s very fun to play here, I just hope to continue, although it is being exhausting. I’m not having much free time; the normal thing is to have two days to regroup, but this time it is not being like that. Fortunately, today’s match didn’t last so long, so I will have a little more time to recover for tomorrow,” Vacherot added.