It’s rare in tennis to see both finalists, future rivals, hugging and crying together on court after the semi-finals.
It makes perfect sense, though, when they’re first cousins.
Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot are at the heart of one of the season’s most beautiful stories.
The Shanghai Masters 1000 trophy will stay in the family: it will be contested by the Frenchman and the Monegasque, cousins on their mothers’ side.
“And now… what???” wrote Rinderknech on the camera after reaching his first Masters 1000 final with a three-set win over Daniil Medvedev.
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The cameras in China showed Vacherot, who had beaten Novak Djokovic just hours earlier, in the stands watching the man who would become his opponent. After his cousin’s win, he was seen emotional, covering his face with his hands, in disbelief at the family affair that will unfold this Sunday — the most important day of their careers.
“In the best dreams we couldn’t have dreamt about this. I don’t think there’s a single person in our family who imagined it,” said the Frenchman. The world No.54 will contest his first Masters 1000 final.
The case of the Monegasque is even more special: he is the lowest-ranked player (No.204) ever to reach a final at that level and the first from Monaco to play the final of any ATP tournament.
The cousins are very close and have shared much of their careers side by side: both were part of the University of Texas team before turning professional.
“There will be two winners on Sunday,” said Rinderknech, the older cousin.
