“More adrenaline than pressure”: Vacherot’s season in three acts ends with a Basel title and a clash vs. Djokovic
Ranked No. 204 a year ago, the Monegasque climbed into the top 20 in April before an injury cost him four months. A Basel title, sealed by a 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 win over Jiri Lehecka after victories over Rafael Jodar and Taylor Fritz, brings him back to No. 27.
Valentin Vacherot, Basel 2026 | © Anthont Benoît / PsNewz
Valentin Vacherot arrives at the Paris Masters 1000 with the Basel title, a year after the Shanghai triumph that changed his career. In between, the Monegasque climbed into the top 20, lost four months to injury and slipped to No. 32, before five wins in Basel took him back to No. 27 on Monday.
“I think the end of the season suits me,” he said in French in Paris on Monday. “The small difference is arriving in Paris 24 hours after a title.”
On Tuesday, he opens against Novak Djokovic, whom he beat 6-3, 6-4 in the Shanghai semi-finals last year. He returns to a Centre Court where, as a wildcard in 2025, he beat Briton Cameron Norrie 7-6 (4), 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals. “It will be more adrenaline than pressure, coming back to this Centre Court in Paris, where I had a crazy good time playing last year,” he said.
Ranked No. 204 in late September 2025, Vacherot came through qualifying to win the Shanghai Masters 1000, beating his cousin, Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
The year that followed that breakthrough has been unlike any other in his career, with a rise into the top 20, four months without a ranking point and a comeback that ended with a title.
At the Australian Open in January, he beat Australian Rinky Hijikata 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 to reach the third round, for a 12-1 record in his last 13 matches at Masters 1000 and Grand Slam level. He had started the tournament at No. 31.
The climb went on into the clay season. In Monte-Carlo, he beat Pole Hubert Hurkacz 6-7 (4), 6-3, 6-4 to enter the top 20, then Australian Alex de Minaur, the fifth seed, 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 to become the first Monegasque in the semi-finals of his home event. Spaniard Carlos Alcaraz beat him 6-4, 6-4 in the last four.
“I had a big first part of the season up to Monte-Carlo, where I was very consistent in my results,” he said.
When I started my career in 2022, I wrote down three goals, short, medium and long term The long-term one was to take Monaco into the World Group.
The injury came in Madrid, he said. He played Roland-Garros, then withdrew with a foot injury before his second-round match. “For four months, I didn’t win a point,” he said. “I didn’t play tennis for two months, and I struggled when I came back.”
The way back started at the US Open, where he reached the third round before American Frances Tiafoe beat him 6-4, 6-2, 6-4. It was not linear. In Chengdu in September, the top seed lost his opening match to qualifier Lloyd Harris 6-4, 7-6 (5), two weeks before returning to Shanghai as defending champion. He then reached the quarter-finals in Tokyo.
Basel title takes Vacherot back into the top 30
In September, he also helped Monaco reach a Davis Cup level they had not reached since 1929. “When I started my career in 2022, I wrote down three goals, short, medium and long term,” he said. “The long-term one was to take Monaco into the World Group.”
Unseeded in Basel, he beat third seed Rafael Jodar 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-6 (5) in the round of 16 and Dane Holger Rune 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in the quarter-finals. He then beat American Taylor Fritz, the sixth seed, 7-6 (5), 6-3, and came from a set down to beat Czech Jiri Lehecka, the eighth seed, 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the final.
