World No 16 Alexander Bublik has said Valentin Vacherot’s surprise run to the Shanghai Masters title was a collective failure for the rest of ATP Tour and a missed opportunity to win a big tournament in the absence of Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner.
Vacherot became the lowest-ranked Masters champion of all time when the World No 204 went from being an alternate to qualifying to winning his first ATP Tour title, where the 26-year-old Monegasque defeated his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final.
“If he’s able to win a Masters, that’s our fault. All of us, we failed,” Bublik told Tennis TV. “We didn’t get ready enough for the Masters. That’s all of us, in a way. He cracked, how many top-20 players? Two top-10? He won a Masters. On the other side there’s Arthur (Rinderknech) killing everyone, so I guess it’s question to us.”
Vacherot defeated Bublik in the second round on his way to beating five seeded players in a row, including Holger Rune in the quarter-finals and Novak Djokovic in the semi-finals, while Rinderknech - who began the week ranked 54th - also knocked out a string of top players including Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev.
Between them, Sinner and Alcaraz have won the last eight grand slam titles but both players were missing from the final round of the Masters event. Sinner’s third-round retirement against Tallon Griekspoor due to severe cramps and Alcaraz’s withdrawal before the tournament due to an ankle injury opened the door to the rest of the draw - although many players also struggled in the extreme heat and humidity in Shanghai.
“Why are we in Shanghai at the end of the season? Half of us have won a lot of titles, half of us maybe won a couple of Slams, Masters, and we were not able to stop those two guys? That’s the question to us,” said Bublik, who is at a career-high of 16 in the world after winning four titles this season. “The level once Carlos and Jannik are not there... This is what’s happening.”
