Valentin Vacherot defeated his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the Shanghai Masters final. Go Nakamura/Reuters

Of all the runs that Valentin Vacherot could have embarked upon to win his first ever major tennis tournament, this was surely the most unlikely.

The world No. 204 had to navigate qualifying to even appear at the Shanghai Masters , then defeat four players all seeded far above him before stunning world No. 11 Holger Rune in the quarterfinals.

Next was the small matter of Novak Djokovic in the semifinals whom he promptly defeated 6-3, 6-4. And that secured his place in the final where, remarkably, he faced his cousin Arthur Rinderknech who had upset Daniil Medvedev in the other semifinal.

There, the 26-year-old defeated his cousin 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to become the lowest ranked

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