After 26 years, the 2025 Rolex Shanghai Masters delivered a piece of tennis history on Thursday afternoon. Earlier in the week, World No. 204 Valentin Vacherot punched his ticket to his first-ever ATP Masters 1000 quarterfinal after edging out Dutchman Tallon Griekspoor in a hard-fought three-set battle. Riding that momentum, the Monegasque qualifier now pulled off another shocker, this time against 10th seed Holger Rune. And with that victory, the 26-year-old etched his name into the record books with a truly remarkable feat.

Just hours later, the Rolex Shanghai Masters’ official X account, sharing a clip of Vacherot’s match-winning shot, captioned the post as “First Qualifier to Semi-Finalist in Shanghai 🤯. Vacherot fights back to continue his dream run, defeating Rune 2-6 7-6 6-4 to

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