Djokovic s opponent is bumper at the Shanghai Masters

*Djokovic - Vacherot: 3:00 p.m. today, October 11, Hanoi time.

Up to before the tournament, Vacherot, who mainly competes at the Challenger level this season, had only earned about 200 thousand USD in the year. However, an excellent performance in Shanghai ensured a financial "take-off" for Vacherot, when he reached the semi-finals.

If he defeats Novak Djokovic and reaches the final, the Monaco player will receive 598,000 USD, exceeding his total career prize money in both singles and doubles. If he wins, the figure will be 1.1 million USD for the 26-year-old tennis player.

With world position 204, Vacherot is still 9 places short of qualifying for the Shanghai Masters qualifying round. But he still flew to China hoping that some players would withdraw.

"I knew there was a big possibility of me participating in the qualifying round, because this was the last Masters 1000 of the year, many injured people would withdraw, " Vacherot recounted. "I told myself that if I couldn't participate, at least I would have gone to China early to adapt and prepare for the next 5 Challenger tournaments. But in the end, I didn't need those anymore, after this tournament I would go home. "

Vacherot caused a series of surprises from the beginning of the tournament, winning eight matches in a row and preparing to play the first Masters 1000 semi-final of his career. What's special is that his cousin Arthur Rinderknech also caused a big surprise when he appeared in the semi-finals in Shanghai. This victory helped Rinderknech temporarily increase 17 places, rising to 37th position in the world, while Vacherot will certainly appear in the top 100 next week.

"Our family chat group has been quite busy these past few days, " Rinderknech said. "It's great that we help everyone in the house connect and have more fun, at least online. The two brothers also look out for each other's situation. Pretty cool, right? ".

As for Vacherot, the 26-year-old tennis player's coach is Benjamin Balleret, his half-brother. While still competing, Balleret rose to the highest rank of 204 in June 2006..

"The family chat group has about 20, 25 people. Everyone loves tennis and always watched and cheered for me before, and now Valentin and Arthur. Arthur's mother is a former tennis player, and Valentin's mother used to be a coach ". Balleret said. "Now the topic in the chat group is mainly about tennis, and then the family's upcoming travel destination ".

In the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters, Rinderknech faced Daniil Medvedev, who won 6-4, 6-4 against Alex de Minaur. Vacherot's opponent today is Djokovic, the tournament's record holder with four crowns. "Who knows when Novak will retire, it probably won't be too far, " Vacherot said about his senior. "I get to fight Novak on Saturday, which will mean a lot – at least I've played a 'Big 3' guy in my career ".