"There Will Be Two Winners," Rinderknech Launches Final Against His Cousin Vacherot in Shanghai

This Saturday, October 11, 2025, will go down as a historic date in tennis. Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot, cousins, managed to eliminate Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic respectively in the semifinals and will face off in a final as improbable as it is unprecedented this Sunday at the Shanghai Masters 1000.

The Frenchman could become the first player from his country to win a tournament of this category on the ATP Tour since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, who won the Toronto tournament in 2014.

In the meantime, the 30-year-old player is savoring what is happening to his family. The world No. 54 before the start of the tournament reacted to his stunning victory against Medvedev (4-6, 6-2, 6-4), before discussing the final against an opponent he knows perfectly well, Vacherot, a player representing Monaco and the author of an incredible run that began in the qualifying rounds in the Chinese city.

"I lost the first set. At night, the playing conditions are slower, but at the beginning, I couldn't get the upper hand. He was defending really well. At that moment, I thought: 'I'm going to fight, and even if I have to lose, I'll at least make sure to tire him out to help Valentin (Vacherot).'

Somehow, I managed to break him in the second set, and in the third, no one can predict what can happen. With Valentin, we played together thousands of times at Texas A&M University.

When we were 10, 12, and 14 years old, we spent hours playing together. Tomorrow (today, Sunday), there will be two winners, no matter what happens.

Of course, there will be the match and a big stake, but today we both won, we couldn't have done more," Rinderknech assured in recent hours for Punto de Break.