"Tomorrow night there will be two winners anyway": Arthur Rinderknech prepares for emotional Shanghai Final against cousin Vacherot

Arthur Rinderknech is just one match away from crowning a dream week at the Shanghai Masters, where he reached his first Masters 1000 final and will be seeking his first ATP-level title. The Frenchman will face none other than his cousin, Valentin Vacherot, who has also completed an impressive week.

Undoubtedly, the 2025 Shanghai Masters will go down in history, leaving us with arguably one of the most unexpected finals for a Masters 1000 in recent memory. World No. 54 Rinderknech will face Vacherot—currently No. 204—in a duel between two cousins who defeated a string of seeded players to reach their first final in a tournament of this category.

Rinderknech arrives with a 6-match winning streak—in which he eliminated 5 seeds, including Alexander Zverev, Félix Auger-Aliassime, and Daniil Medvedev—the latter victory coming from a set down in the semifinals. The 30-year-old has only one previous final—back in Adelaide 2022—where he fell to Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis in three sets.

This time the surprise doesn't only come from Rinderknech's side—who is at least on paper the favorite (if a favorite can even be considered)—as the more 'experienced' and higher-ranked ATP player. He will face his cousin, six years his junior, Valentin Vacherot, the executioner of Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, who is on an 8-match winning streak—considering he had to come through qualifying to enter the main draw.

"Even in the biggest dream we couldn't have dreamt about this," said Rinderknech after his semifinal victory over Medvedev (4-6, 6-2, 6-4). "It's a dream that couldn't even exist at the beginning. I don't even know where it comes from, how it happened," he reflected in the mixed zone.

"I guess we must have done some good thing to the people around us, to deserve to experience something like this, because it's incredible, yes."

Rinderknech didn't have an easy time in the semifinals against former World No. 1 Medvedev, who comfortably took the first set 6-4. However, Rinderknech remained calm, and from the beginning of the second set—with an early break—he took control of the match and took advantage of the physical demands to overcome his rival.

“I was getting tired with this humidity of the night. I was like, ‘Okay, I'm just going to fight, try to make him tired at least for Valentin tomorrow, so that he's going to be physically a little bit more tired than Val.’ I tried to help him out already today if I lose,” said Rinderknech. “Then somehow I broke him. I went into the third set and nobody knows what can happen. I found a way somehow.”

The 30-year-old secured 12 aces and committed 6 double faults. He saved 10/11 break points against him, while capitalizing on 3/6 break opportunities in his favor. He rallied in the second and third sets and finished closing out the victory after two hours and 31 minutes, guaranteeing the family final against his cousin Vacherot.

"We played together in training thousands of times in Texas A&M. When we were 10, 12, and 14, we played many hours of tennis together. “Tomorrow night there will be two winners anyway. There's going to be a match, of course, but today we won everything,” asserted Rinderknech. “Tomorrow between us, that's all that matters.”

The final will be played this Sunday between two players seeking their first title. Rinderknech is already World No. 28 in the live rankings, and if he takes the title, he will climb to World No. 22. On Vacherot's side—after starting outside the Top 200—he is already guaranteed to reach at least World No. 58, which could be even higher if he wins the title, making him the No. 40 in the ATP Ranking.