French tennis player Arthur Rinderknech rose from 54 to a career-high 28 in the ATP world rankings published on Monday following his defeat to his cousin Valentin Vacherot in the final of the Shanghai Masters.
Along with a cheque for €515,000 Rinderknech collected 600 ranking points to propel him into the top 30 for the first time since he turned professional in 2018.
Vacherot zoomed from 204 in the lists to 40 with the 1,000 points harvested from the tournament.
The 26-year-old also doubled his career prize money.
Entering the tournament two weeks ago, Vacherot had earned €512,000 since hitting the international tour in 2021. The Monegasque departed with €969,000.
The 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 triumph also left him bathed in the kudos of becoming the lowest-ranked winner of a Masters 1000 event, which are considered as the most coveted crowns on the circuit after the four Grand Slam events in Melbourne, Paris, London and New York.
Vacherot can also boast the feat of the first player representing Monaco to win a tour-level title since tennis was opened up to professional players in 1968.
Before his exploits, Roberto Carretero in 1996 and Alberto Portas in 2001 had been the only other qualifiers to win Masters titles.
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'One family that won'
“I think there are two winners and just one family that won,” said Vacherot who went to China on the off chance that there would be a space in the qualifying tournament for the main draw.
Once admitted in the qualifiers, he negotiated the three rounds.
And in the main draw, he accounted for Laslo Djere in the first round to notch up only his second victory on the main tour.
Experienced operators such as Alexander Bublik, Tomas Machac and Tallon Griekspoor also fell.
Vacherot's fairy tale continued with the elimination of the 10th seed Holger Rune in the last eight and he outmuscled the four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic in the semis.
“It's only my fourth season on the tour," Vacherot said. "I think of all the work I've done and to win is completely crazy.
“I tried to put it to one side that it was my cousin, the guy that I’ve been growing up with,” Vacherot added.
“In the first set I didn’t bring my ‘A’ game and Arthur was playing better than me.”
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'Valentin was extraordinary'
Rinderknech, who had never been past the third round at a Masters 1000 competition in 21 previous attempts, admitted he was physically compromised after his semi-final against Daniil Medvedev on Saturday.
“Daniil makes you work extremely hard to earn points and it took a lot of effort on my part. I was not on the top of my game but that's not why I lost.
“Valentin was extraordinary. I'm extremely proud of him, of what he did, of everything he showed this week in Shanghai.
“The little star above our heads shone a little brighter for him. I'm happy for him, for his coach, his parents, my aunt and the whole family. That's what stands out most.”
