Monaco’s Vaccello makes history by defeating Wayne Rooney in Shanghai – Tennis Now
The camera logo doesn’t lie.
Valentin Vaccello participated in this year’s Shanghai Masters ranked 204th in the world. He will leave as a top 100 card-carrying member of the ATP for the first time.
After a thrilling 2-6, 7-6(4) 6-4 victory over No. 11 Holger Rune, Monagesque can celebrate his new status and look forward to his first Masters semi-final.
Vaccello, a cousin of France’s Arthur Rinderknech, was also in the draw and will play Jiri Lehecka in the quarter-finals in Shanghai on Friday.
“I came in as a substitute and I wasn’t even sure if I was going to qualify,” he said on the course after his sixth top-50 win of the season and his biggest.
“I don’t know what to say, it’s unbelievable. The last win already meant a lot to me and this one means even more. And there are wins. And top 100 rankings. It’s just one step. I try not to look at the rankings for the whole race, but unfortunately for this one, I read that if I win, I’ll break the top 100.”
Rooney took an early lead but struggled to match Vaccello’s physicality and was overcome by cramps late in the third set as the 26-year-old built his way to the biggest win of his career.
“It’s unbelievable. I can’t wait for Thursday, can’t you? I don’t even know what day it is. I’m happy, I’m living the dream,” Vaccello said with a smile.
Last spring, Vaccello was ranked as high as No. 116, but his progress was limited by injuries – he played just three games from June to December and ultimately regretted his bad luck.
“It’s just a step of course. I don’t want to stop my career now. I was injured for five months last year and was 30 points away from the top 100, when I was already playing the best tennis of my life. I barely had any points to defend and I sat on the couch all day thinking if I had just one or two good results, I would be in the top 100,” he admitted.
“It’s not easy coming back from a six-month offseason, you just have to work your way through it a little bit. I had another setback this summer. It was the last way I thought I could crack the top 100 and have a huge run like this, but it was probably the easiest way.”
He continued to play confidently against the tour’s elite on Thursday, earning his fourth top-50 win of the week (along with No. 31 Grixpo, No. 23 Machak and No. 14 Bublik).
“I was really shocked today with the way he defended,” Vaccello said of Ruane. “I can get points that beat 90 percent of the guys. I came in thinking I was going to get an easy volley and he was going to get past me.”
“The first set was very physical. My lungs were kind of screaming. In the end, what surprised me the most was I thought I beat him physically, it was just unreal.”
Vaccello will face four-time champion Novak Djokovic or Zizou Burgess in the semifinals.
