"She just never complains about how much time I'm training and everything" - Valentin Vacherot speaks on his girlfriend's role in tennis career

Valentin Vacherot's rise in tennis has been nothing short of remarkable. Becoming quite possibly the most unlikely winner of a Masters 1000 tournament before asserting himself as a fully-fledged top 30 player. Not all of this was based off work on the court. The support system off it was a huge factor in this, especially his partner.

He first met his girlfriend, Emily Snyder, in his native Monaco. Regularly competing on the Challenger and ITF Tours, he was at home injured, struggling with a stress fracture in his foot. Snyder, then a University of North Carolina undergraduate student studying abroad in Barcelona, spent a week in Monaco with friends.

The pair would meet one evening and would keep in touch from then on, trying to contact each other whenever free in their busy schedules. Eventually, she moved to Monte-Carlo to attend the International University of Monaco. From then on, she would be a crucial part of Vacherot's team, constantly supporting him and being by his side through all the ups and downs.

Vacherot echoed how important it was to find the right person who is able to accept and work around the busy schedule of a professional tennis player. “Of course you need the right person,” Vacherot told ATPTour.com. “Tennis takes 90 per cent of our time in the year. If you want to be good in tennis, you've got to live tennis, you've got to wake up tennis, you've got to eat tennis, and do most of the things you do in your day to be good for your career."

He unveiled the understanding Snyder had for his career, not complaining or questioning the process but instead supporting it. “Your partner has got to deal with that and be okay with that. And luckily for me, my girlfriend is amazing with that," he said. "She just never complains about how much time I'm training and everything… When it's probably 325 days out of 365, it gets pretty long sometimes. Thanks to her for that. It's really important.”

She has an important role to play away from the court and tournaments. While the Monegasque has a very solid team around him, including cousin Arthur Rinderknech, Snyder's role proves to be also hugely crucial to switch off from tennis. “I know if I spend time alone, I'm going to spend time alone for for two days or for one week or for 10 days, and then I'll see her again in 10 days and I say I'll enjoy even more the time I get with her,” Vacherot said. “So your partner is just really, really important.”

The 2025 Shanghai Masters was one of the most incredible tournaments played out on the ATP Tour. Vacherot was ranked 204th in the world. He was not even on the shortlist to get into the qualification rounds but a late withdrawal meant that he had the chance to qualify for a first Masters 1000 tournament outside of Monaco.

He did this, and would go on a mesmerising run which involved knocking out the likes of Alexander Bublik, Holger Rune and 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic. A hugely unlikely but special final against Rinderknech would follow, and he would prevail in three sets for by far the biggest win of his career.

It was a hugely emotional night and week which accelerated him into the mainstream of tennis and boosted him up the rankings. Now eligible for other big ATP tournaments, the quest was to stay there. It helps when you have little to defend in terms of ranking points, but in a current career-high of 23rd in the world seems like a fleeting dream this time last year.

While the damage was done on the court, Snyder helped away from it from a social media point of view. “She knows about it. That's what she studied. I’m not really big into social media at all, but I started to develop a bit, mostly since Shanghai," Vacherot commented.

“I didn't have that many followers before and now it's grown way more. It’s easier to do some stuff when you get a bit more views, and she's helped me sometimes to take pictures, [deciding] what caption to pick, which picture to put, I'll always ask her. She helps me for all those little steps.”

They have worked out a way to balance their relationship and spending time with each other with Vacherot's tennis career.

“When I have time, the first day off, [it is about] what we can do together to just gets [away from] tennis. And I know that's the moment she loves. It’s important for her,” Vacherot said. “In Acapulco, for one of the first times we went golfing. She's a bit better than me — I'm really bad — but we had a great time, we laughed a lot."

Time with other people is important, but sometimes time spent as just a couple is also crucial. “We always go to dinner with everyone. Once in a while, we change, we go to dinner just us two," he said. "We try to just even have dates during some tournaments just to change up and feel like [we are] at home. I just thank her after most of my matches just for supporting me. That's the easiest to do... She supports me, so the minimum I can do is just thank her for that.”

Vacherot is back in the Principality, competing in the Monte-Carlo Masters. He got a lot of support from his family and friends, including Snyder and even Rinderknech who cheered him on to victory against Juan Manuel Cerundolo. His next task is last year's finalist Lorenzo Musetti. It may seem like a tough challenge, but with the support of his team around him, he will fancy his chances.