Valentin Vacherot shocked the public by winning in Shanghai. Few expected the Monegasque to take such an important step in this tournament, especially considering that he made it through the qualifiers. He had many quality and difficult opponents in front of him, but he managed to dominate from match to match with his play and lift such an important trophy in the final.
"The Changeover" podcast was an opportunity for the 26-year-old to reflect on his performance in Shanghai, saying that most tennis players were not so optimistic when it came to playing in this tournament.
Vacherot was not sure that he would be able to qualify at all, but he still had the desire to try and see how he stood in the competition.
For Shanghai, a lot of guys pull out; they dont want to go all the way to Shanghai. They dont really want to go to Shanghai and play two or three more Challengers there because of the humid conditions, he said, as quoted by Tennis Gazette.
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But me, I was thinking that if I wanted to get into one big tournament before the end of the year, it was going to be Shanghai.
I was 204th in the world, thinking there was a chance to get in. The qualifier list came out, and I was 22 away. I checked the list; I would have been four spots out last year. I was thinking I wasnt going to get in.
Im like whatever, I plan to play four or five more Challengers in Asia after that, worst case, Im training for a week in Shanghai on the Masters 1000 site. I land there, still nine out, but I got in 24 hours before.
Benjamin Balleret and his ideas
Vacherot's coach, Benjamin Balleret, was not quite sure that Valentin Vacherot could be successful in this tournament. Balleret asked him several times if he was sure about playing in the tournament, as there were some Challenger tournaments in the USA.
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The Tiburon Challenger was one of the options for Vacherot, but ultimately he had his own desires and ambitions in mind.
Valentin knew that this tournament could be a great opportunity, but few believed that he would take such a step and lift the trophy. Probably even the most optimistic did not believe in such a scenario.
Still, this is an indication that tennis is an unpredictable sport, and Vacherot can be proud of himself because he felt that Shanghai could be the right thing.
