Valentin Vacherot brought the flow state that helped him capture the Rolex Shanghai Masters to Paris for the final Masters 1000 tournament of the 2025 season, dropping just four games to upset No. 13 seed Jiri Lehecka, 6-1, 6-3.
“Everything I’ve been living the past two-three weeks helps a lot for me to have no nerves,” Vacherot told Prakash Amritraj in his visit to the Tennis Channel Desk.
The 26-year-old has taken a hero’s journey towards the top of the men’s game this fall, going from a college standout at Texas A&M University to an ATP Challenger Tour stalwart before roaring to the biggest title of his career in Shanghai.
“I think the tournament changed when I beat [Alexander] Bublik in the second round,” recalled Vacherot, who had to pass through two rounds of qualifying just to make it into the Shanghai main draw. “I think it was just about focusing on myself because that was working in the first matches. I kept doing the same thing over and over and it kept working. There was nothing to change, all about focusing on myself and adapting during the matches because I was playing such good guys for the first time in my life. I knew it wasn’t going to work this good every time, but for this one, it worked pretty well.”
