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World number 204 Valentin Vacherot said he was in shock Sunday after beating his cousin Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win the Shanghai Masters, becoming the lowest-ranked player to win an ATP 1000 tournament. The unlikely all-family final between the 54th-ranked Frenchman Rinderknech and Vacherot, from Monaco, was described by the latter’s coach and half-brother Benjamin Balleret as a “fairytale”. It was just the third ATP Masters 1000 final in history to feature two unseeded players. “I don’t even understand why I’m sitting here right now,” the 26-year-old Vacherot said at the winner’s press conference. “It’s crazy. I think I’m going to start realising in the next few days, but right now, I just want to enjoy the moment.” Vacherot landed in Shanghai on a “little bit of a gamble”. He was on the alternate list for the tournament - meaning he wasn’t even certain to take part - and found out just over a day before the qualifying rounds that he would play. The performance that followed will propel the Monegasque from 204 to 40 in the rankings, according to the ATP website. “The challenges were just everywhere,” he said, and his current situation was “surreal”. On their way to the final, Rinderknech took out world number three Alexander Zverev and former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev. Vacherot ended 24-time Grand Slam champion Novak Djokovic’s chances of a fifth Shanghai title in the semi-finals as well as defeating world number 11 Holger Rune. Vacherot admitted having to face his cousin in the final was “not easy... to deal with”. Coach Balleret said that in the second half of the match “the magic” happened. “(I’ve seen him before) in this state of mind, of physical beast,” he said of Vacherot. “But to do it on the centre court of Shanghai in the final against his cousin, it’s another thing.” Rinderknech said after his semi-final that there would be “two winners” on Sunday whatever happened. The two sat side-by-side, Rinderknech’s arm around Vacherot’s shoulder, as they waited for the trophy ceremony to begin - and were in tears during it.

Daniil Medvedev on Wednesday got his revenge against US teenager Learner Tien, beating him in a nail-biter 7-6 (8/6), 6-7 (1/7), 6-4 to proceed to the Shanghai Masters quarter-finals.There he will meet world number seven Alex de Minaur, who cruised past Portugal's Nuno Borges 7-5, 6-2 earlier in the day.Victory in Shanghai comes over a week after the 36th-ranked Tien took the Russian out of the China Open semi-finals in Beijing."He's an unbelievable tennis player," Medvedev said. "Outside of the big three, he may be the toughest opponent I've ever faced."Medvedev broke first in the ninth game, but Tien returned the favour immediately.The last two games of the first set saw the two players locked in an epic back-and-forth, their prolonged rallies thrilling the crowd.Both faced breakpoint but managed to hold, with Medvedev smashing a looping lob from Tien to send them to a gripping tiebreak.Medvedev broke early in the second set, but Tien was again unphased -- breaking back in the fifth and then seventh games, before the former world number one levelled again in the tenth.Medvedev began limping just before the second-set tiebreak and spoke briefly with a medic before hobbling back onto court.Tien went 3-0 up as the Russian, ten years his senior, tried to stretch out on court, becoming increasingly irate as the match was pushed to a decider.A scrappy third set full of double-faults from both players was decided when Medvedev broke in the ninth game with a backhand.'Going to be a battle'His next opponent De Minaur is, after Novak Djokovic, the highest ranked player left standing in the tournament after a string of high-profile exits.The first set heated up when the Australian needed five break points in the 11th game against Borges, converting the last with a backhand for a decisive advantage.De Minaur carried the momentum into the second set, breaking in the first and third games.He remained cautious about his title chances, despite the elimination of so many top seeds, including second- and third-ranked Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev."In our side of the draw, there's a lot of quality players, so it's still going to be a battle," he said.Another top-10 player fell on Wednesday as Italy's Lorenzo Musetti lost to Canada's Felix Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-2.Thirteenth-ranked Auger-Aliassime looked sharp throughout, breaking in the fifth game.He went on to dominate the second set, breaking Musetti, the world number nine, in the fifth and seventh games."I knew it was going to be the toughest match of the week so far, and I knew I was going to have to raise my level, and I did," said the 25-year-old Canadian.He will next meet France's Arthur Rinderknech, who reached his first Masters 1000 quarter-final after beating Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-6 (7/5).Rinderknech's cousin Valentin Vacherot made it to the last eight on Tuesday, and will face Denmark's Holger Rune for a place in the semi-finals.Djokovic will follow them on to court on Thursday against Belgium's Zizou Bergs for a place in the last four.

Novak Djokovic banished exhaustion and played through an ankle injury scare to make it to the quarterfinals of the Shanghai Masters Tuesday, beating Spain's Jaume Munar 6-3, 5-7, 6-2.The victory keeps Djokovic on track as the favourite to take a record-extending fifth title in the Chinese financial hub, with other top seeds already withdrawn or knocked out.The 38-year-old almost looked like he might not be able to continue when the match went to a decider, but conjured up the energy to break his decade-younger opponent twice in the third set."Thank you, thank you everyone, I love you!" he shouted in Chinese to the adoring crowd before leaving court almost immediately after play finished.The 24-time Grand Slam champion had a good start, breaking in the fourth game, but shortly afterwards had to take a medical break when his left ankle slid out behind him as he rushed towards the net.He grimaced in pain as he was attended to by an on-court physio, but managed to resume to hold the fifth game.Djokovic received treatment briefly again during a break in play in the second set, and looked increasingly fatigued, crouching over frequently in between rallies.Serbian-flag-waving Chinese fans roared in support, but 41st-ranked Munar ultimately broke in the 12th game after an unforced error from his opponent.An agonised Djokovic dropped to the floor and remained splayed out on court with his chest heaving, as his team rushed over.But he picked himself up and in the third set had an incredible revival, breaking in the first and seventh games and sending the stadium into a frenzy.Djokovic is the highest-ranking player left in the competition.World number one Carlos Alcaraz withdrew from the tournament to rest, and second, third and fourth-ranked Jannik Sinner, Alexander Zverev and Taylor Fritz have all been eliminated.The event in Shanghai has been beset by injuries, as players have battled temperatures of over 30 Celsius and humidity levels peaking at over 80 percent.Sinner was forced to retire on Sunday after being seized with extreme cramps.World number 11 Holger Rune, who has also struggled with the conditions, called on Tuesday for tennis authorities to bring in a heat policy for events like Shanghai.The Dane is through to the last eight after he took out France's Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4, 6-7 (7/9), 6-3.Zizou Bergs and Gabriel Diallo took it down to the wire in their match, with the Belgian eventually prevailing in a prolonged third set tiebreak 3-6, 7-5, 7-6 (10/8).

World number three Alexander Zverev said he was playing “terrible tennis” after he was knocked out of the Shanghai Masters by France’s Arthur Rinderknech 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 on Monday.His exit leaves Novak Djokovic as the tournament’s top-ranked player, increasing the 38-year-old Serb’s chances of winning a record-extending fifth title in the Chinese financial hub.In stifling conditions, the 54th-ranked Rinderknech came back from a set down to stun an increasingly rattled Zverev into submission. It is the second time the Frenchman has beaten him, after bundling him out of Wimbledon earlier this year.A despondent Zverev told reporters the match had been “nothing unusual for me, unfortunately, these days”.“Just no confidence, no belief in the shots... My year has been terrible, I’m just playing terrible tennis all round,” he said, visibly emotional.The German had injured his big toe towards the end of his last match in Shanghai but on Monday showed no sign of discomfort as he broke Rinderknech in the third game with a forehand.He nearly went ahead early in the second set, but Rinderknech recovered his composure and broke in the fourth game.“I’m not very sure (how I managed to turn the game around),” he said.“I fought like hell, tried everything. (Zverev) is such a good player... I knew it was going to be a battle.“Starting in the second set... I was able to be offensive at the right moment, in a smarter way,” he said.Keeping up the momentum, in the third set the 30-year-old broke in the third game.Zverev had to pause to change his shoes because sweat was pouring out of them, as spectators wafted fans and wore cool packs on their foreheads to counter the suffocating humidity. But switching footwear was not enough to save the German, and a double fault in the seventh game led to Rinderknech breaking again.Holding with an ace to win, the Frenchman lolled his body in delighted disbelief, then danced around the court in glee.Top seeds vanquished Zverev’s loss means world number five Djokovic now leads ranking-wise as the tournament heads into the last 16, with the 24-time Grand Slam winner facing Spain’s Jaume Munar Tuesday.On Sunday the competition lost both defending champion Jannik Sinner, who was forced to retire with extreme leg cramps, and fourth-ranked Taylor Fritz.World number one Carlos Alcaraz withdrew at the last minute to rest.Alex de Minaur is the next highest seed after Djokovic through to the fourth round, comfortably getting past Poland’s Kamil Majchrzak 6-1, 7-5.The Australian will next meet Portugal’s Nuno Borges, who put an end to the hopes of home favourite Shang Juncheng 7-6 (7/5), 4-6, 6-3.MEDVEDEV ADVANCESDaniil Medvedev, the 2019 Shanghai champion, is through too, after beating Spain’s Alejandro Davidovich Fokina 6-3, 7-6 (7/5).“I haven’t had a title since two years, so (I’m) not a favourite yet, but I will take it match by match, and I’m happy with the way I play so far,” he told AFP.The Russian broke early to take the first set, before edging a sweat-soaked tiebreak in the second.Medvedev said he relished the conditions.“Whenever it’s above 28 and humid, I suffer and many players don’t. Here everyone suffers,” he grinned.He will once again take on US teenager Learner Tien, who defeated him last week in the China Open semi-final.The 19-year-old beat Britain’s Cameron Norrie 7-6 (7/4), 6-3 to make the last 16 on Monday.

Novak Djokovic said he had been "hanging by a rope" before battling through to the Shanghai Masters last 16 with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-3 win over qualifier Yannick Hanfmann Sunday.The 38-year-old Serb is looking to win a record-extending fifth title in Shanghai but was given a mighty scare by the 150th-ranked German.Djokovic fired two aces to start, delighting the crowd, but soon ran into trouble as Hanfmann found his range.The German broke in the third game and held serve after that to clinch the first set."I was just outplayed by a better player for a set and a half -- I was hanging by a rope to stay in the match," Djokovic said.Neither player was able to take control of a gruelling second set, until a series of unforced errors from Hanfmann in the 12th game gave Djokovic the opening he needed.Sweating in 28 C humidity at 9:00 pm, the 24-time Grand Slam champion then broke in the fourth game of the third set as his 33-year-old opponent's precision dropped.Cheered on by a stadium full of adoring fans, Djokovic held his resolve to take the third set after Hanfmann hit the ball out."I had to dig in really, really deep to come out from this match as a winner, and I think the energy and support of the crowd really got me out," Djokovic said.The United States' Taylor Fritz was not so lucky, becoming the highest-ranked player to be dumped out so far after he fell to 37th-ranked Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4, 7-5.On a hot afternoon, the world number four seemed lethargic and struggled to get into his stride, unnerved after Mpetshi Perricard nearly broke twice in the fifth game.That preempted a streak of brilliance that saw the neon orange-clad Frenchman fire three aces to hold the sixth, then break in the seventh.A closely fought second set came to a head in the 11th game when a double fault by Fritz handed Mpetshi Perricard the advantage, which he swiftly converted with a backhand.Finishing the match off with two aces, the big-serving 22-year-old said he could be proud of himself."It was tough to be honest, tough conditions, very humid," he said."The game at 5-5 (in the second set), it was terrible. I thought I was dying on the court," he chuckled.Mpetshi Perricard will next face 11th-ranked Dane Holger Rune, who beat France's Ugo Humbert, 6-4, 6-4.reb/pst

World number two Jannik Sinner launched his Shanghai Masters title defence Saturday by breezing past Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 6-3 while Alexander Zverev advanced despite toe trouble.Sinner, fresh from winning the China Open, broke early in both sets to take control and ease himself comfortably into the third round.The 49th-ranked Altmaier’s best chance came in the eighth game of the first set, but he failed to convert a breakpoint twice, allowing the Italian to hold with an ace.The second set provided even less opportunity to seriously bother the 24-year-old Wimbledon champion, but afterwards Sinner said it had been more difficult than it looked.“First match is never easy, especially when you don’t have a lot of time to adjust,” he said.“(Altmaier) is a very tough player, very talented... I just tried to stay mentally in a good point,” he added.“When I broke him twice very early in the set it gave me the confidence to serve the match out, so I’m very happy.”Sinner’s path to retaining the title has been made easier by the withdrawal of great rival Carlos Alcaraz, who dropped out last minute to rest.The Italian’s next match is Sunday against the Netherlands’ Tallon Griekspoor.Four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic will take to the court again Sunday as well, facing Germany’s 150th-ranked Yannick Hanfmann.The tournament lost another top-10 player as Karen Khachanov was defeated by China’s Shang Juncheng 7-6 (7/3), 6-3.Shang, ranked 237th after slipping down the rankings due to injury, was egged on by an increasingly raucous crowd as ninth seed Khachanov flagged.Shang broke in the eighth game of the second set with a backhand.“I think I played well on the whole but I think everyone (in the crowd) must have put a lot of pressure on him,” the 20-year-old Shang laughed.World number three Zverev overcame an injury to his big toe to book his place in the third round, beating France’s Valentin Royer 6-4, 6-4.The German had a blistering start, breaking Royer in the first game and then sending down three aces to easily hold the second.The Frenchman found his feet but a crucial stumble saw him miss a break point in the eighth game, and Zverev took the set.Both players missed chances to break in the second, wowing the crowd with multiple tense rallies.Zverev finally broke in the ninth game then held the last game to win, despite having to take a medical break after limping off court.“It’s not a nice feeling to finish a match like that,” Zverev said afterwards, wincing.He said he sustained the injury during the follow-through of his serve, and would have it assessed Sunday.“I really don’t know what happened, so we’re going to check it out,” he said.World number seven Alex de Minaur comfortably dispatched Argentina’s Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-4, 6-2.Russian Andrey Rublev, ranked 14th, was upset by qualifier Yoshihito Nishioka 2-6, 6-1, 6-4.But compatriot Daniil Medvedev dominated qualifier Dalibor Svrcina to advance 6-1, 6-1.

Carlos Alcaraz won his eighth title of a sensational season in Tokyo and then pulled out of the Shanghai Masters because of “physical issues” and took aim at tennis’ packed schedule.The Spanish world number one hurt his ankle in his opening match at the Japan Open but shrugged off the issue to beat American Taylor Fritz 6-4, 6-4 in the final. But immediately after downing the world number five, the six-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz took aim at the tennis calendar.“The schedule is really tight. They have to do something with the schedule,” the recently crowned US Open champion told reporters in the Japanese capital, echoing the sentiments this week of fellow major champions Iga Swiatek and Coco Gauff.Alcaraz subsequently wrote on Instagram that he will not play at the prestigious Shanghai Masters starting this week. “Unfortunately I’ve been struggling with some physical issues and, after discussing with my team, we believe the best decision is to rest and recover,” the 22-year-old wrote.Alcaraz injured his ankle last week in Tokyo as he ran for a shot, crumpling to the ground and sitting on the court for about five minutes. He returned to play with heavy strapping on his ankle and has admitted that the injury had been on his mind throughout the tournament. It did not appear to bother him against Fritz, as he gave another breathtaking display to lift the trophy in his first appearance in Japan.He clinched victory with a cleverly disguised drop shot before strolling to the net to give Fritz a warm embrace. The win gave Alcaraz a measure of revenge after losing to Fritz for the first time at the Laver Cup in San Francisco two weeks ago.The number of matches in the men’s and women’s tennis calendar has been a major talking point in recent years, with players such as Novak Djokovic cutting back the tournaments they compete in as they near the end of their careers. Gauff called for shorter seasons and said it was “impossible” to play more than she already does, after Swiatek also hit out at the number of tournaments. They were speaking at the China Open, where five players retired injured from matches on Monday.“With more and more events being two weeks it just doesn’t really make sense to strain your body,” the American Gauff said after emerging unscathed to reach the quarter-finals. “I would like to see in my lifetime on tour that a solution be made to make the season shorter,” the 21-year-old world number three added.Gauff, the defending China Open champion and two-time major winner, weighed in after top seed Swiatek said on Monday she may skip mandatory tournaments to protect her health. Starting last year, the Women’s Tennis Association made it mandatory for top players to participate in each Grand Slam, 10 WTA 1000 events – which includes Beijing – and six 500-level tournaments.“I guess on a business standpoint, it can kind of make sense, but on a player health standpoint, I don’t really agree with it,” Gauff said. “I’ve basically played as much tennis as I possibly can.”Poland’s world number two Swiatek called the WTA’s mandatory requirements “pretty crazy”. In Tokyo, Alcaraz said he too would look at skipping mandatory tournaments on the men’s ATP Tour.“We as tennis players, we are not allowed to have a choice if we have to play or not,” he said following his convincing two-set win over Fritz. “To be honest, I have to consider in the future if I have to skip some mandatory tournaments just to maintain my physical condition in a good shape.”Daniil Medvedev retired injured from his China Open semi-final Tuesday.