“We started from zero — now he’s a Masters champion”: Valentin Vacherot’s brother and coach shares emotional Shanghai story

Valentin Vacherot’s victory at the 2025 Shanghai Masters was the kind of story tennis fans dream about — and rarely witness. Ranked No. 204 and coming through qualifying, the 26-year-old from Monaco stunned the sport by winning his first ATP title, and not just any trophy but a Masters 1000. No player ranked that low had ever lifted a Masters title since the category was created in 1990.

It wasn’t just the ranking that made it historic, but the quality of his run. Vacherot toppled Alexander Bublik, Tomas Machac, Tallon Griekspoor, Holger Rune, Novak Djokovic and, finally, his cousin Arthur Rinderknech. His straight-sets win over Djokovic shook the tennis world, while the emotional all-family final against Rinderknech sealed what many called the Cinderella story of the season.

The title also rewrote history for Monaco: never before had a player from the principality won an ATP singles trophy. With the victory, Vacherot leapt roughly 160 places to around world No. 40 and earned over a million dollars in prize money. For his coach and half-brother Benjamin Balleret, though, the emotions went far beyond statistics — this was the culmination of years of sacrifice, faith, and doubt.

“When Val turned 18 he wanted to be a professional tennis player, but he was not mature enough in the head and also in the fitness,” Balleret recalled. “He was so skinny. He was not developed physically. The family, we discussed it, and we advised him to go to America to college — to learn about tennis, to practice, to have a great coach with Steve Denton. So he listened to us.”

Balleret admits that, at the time, he doubted how far his brother could go. “In my mind it was, okay, he’s going to go to Futures, he’s going to lose. Even if I help him, it’s going to take years for him to develop enough to reach the top 100 or top 50. That was my feeling and my idea about Val.”

While Vacherot was learning the ropes at Texas A&M, Balleret was building his own reputation as a coach. “I started with Gilles Müller, who believed in me at the time, and we did two and a half amazing years together,” he said. “I learned — I mean, coaching, you learn every day. You don’t learn two years and then you’re a great coach. Then with Pierre-Hugues Herbert we had almost five years and it was again great. He’s an amazing person, and I also learned a lot.”

Those years gave him the perspective he would later bring back to the family project. “I always had in mind that, if Val came back from college still wanting to be a pro, I would help him,” Balleret explained. “And I wanted to help because he’s my brother. It doesn’t matter if you have the best qualities or not — if you really work and you want it so much, then you have to go all the way. You never know what can happen. If you are 200, you can be 150. If you are 150, you can be 100. Just always put another goal, another goal.”

That chance came in the summer of 2021. “At the end, he came back, and we went from zero,” Balleret said. “It’s also why you see so much emotion today — because it’s been such a long way. Sometimes you lose a little bit of faith. You have bad losses. It’s difficult emotionally because it’s family; it’s not only a player you work with, which is already difficult because you want it so much. But when it’s your brother, it’s even more.”

The grind was slow and often thankless — small tournaments, long travel, modest wins. Yet each step built belief. “We had ups and downs but we kept working," Balleret continued. "The important thing was to stay patient, to focus on the next step, to believe in the process. Now, to be here in front of you guys today as Val is a Masters 1000 champion — it’s just unbelievable.”

The words carried the raw emotion of a man who had not only guided a player but shared the same bloodline and dreams. As Vacherot lifted the trophy, cameras caught Balleret wiping away tears — the kind of moment that transcends the sport.

The win in Shanghai instantly changed Vacherot’s career, but the story behind it may inspire players far beyond Monaco. “For me it doesn’t matter if you reach No. 200 or No. 50," Balleret added. "What matters is that you go full to reach your potential. You never know what can happen.”

Vacherot’s climb from overlooked college player to Masters champion is a reminder that late bloomers can still make miracles. From his family’s decision to send him to Texas, to the nights grinding in qualifiers, to the moment he beat Djokovic, every chapter carried the same thread: faith and hard work.