"He doesn't seem to be overexerting himself," Monaco's Davis Cup captain discusses Vacherot's run in Shanghai

Valentin Vacherot is the feel-good story of the Shanghai Masters 1000. The Monegasque player qualified for the semifinals, upsetting higher-ranked opponents throughout a journey that began in the qualifying rounds.

This Saturday, the 26-year-old player, who will enter the top 100 after the tournament, faces the biggest challenge of his career against Novak Djokovic for a spot in the final. Monaco's Davis Cup captain, Guillaume Couillard, discussed Vacherot just hours before his match against the Serbian legend.

"In June 2024, he had climbed to 110th in the ATP rankings and had virtually no points to defend for almost 6 months. We were almost certain he would break into the top 100, but then he injured his shoulder and didn't play for almost seven months, even longer.

It was very complicated, so when he returned, he had lost all his points. He was practically 270th when he came back, so he had to rebuild everything from scratch, because we knew he obviously had the potential to break into the top 100.

We felt he was capable of winning at that level. What's truly ultra-surprising here is the consistency. It's not about doing it once but doing it twice, three times, four times, five times. Yet it's mentally and physically difficult to maintain the level he's showing. He doesn't seem to be overexerting himself.

He's just playing very well, but as he's done several times before. In 2024, in Monte-Carlo, he had beaten the Portuguese player Borges, who was top 40. Breaking into the top 100 is still a milestone. It's not just the symbolism of the top 100; it guarantees him entry into Grand Slam main draws.

It financially secures him to be comfortable enough to continue paying for his team, improving it, all of that. So it has a huge impact. And knowing that he'll be able to play the biggest tournaments in the world against the best players in the world, that's what gets him out of bed in the morning. He feels that now, finally, he has that opportunity.

We know that Prince Albert is crazy about it, he follows it, he's like a madman. Just like Charles Leclerc when he won the Formula 1 Grand Prix. I know that my president (Mélanie-Antoinette De Massy) took a flight to join him. She follows all our Davis Cup matches, she's everywhere.

She's the Prince's cousin. She left on Thursday after his quarterfinal. She had booked her plane ticket with cancellation options if Valentin lost. So she packed her bag and left," Couillard told RMC Sport.