Why Valentin Vacherot’s fairytale Shanghai run was crazier than anyone imagined | ATP Tour

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Why Vaccello’s fairytale Shanghai run was crazier than anyone imagined: ‘Is this real life?’

Exclusive Insights from Vaccello’s Girlfriend Emily Snyder

October 16, 2025

Valentin Vacherot tells the story of his run to the Rolex Shanghai Masters that was crazier than the result itself.

In the history of the ATP Masters 1000 Series, no player ranked as low as Vaccello, who was ranked 204th in the PIF ATP Rankings at the time, has won the title. The 26-year-old had won just one ATP Tour match before the tournament, coming within two points of beating Liam Draxil in the second qualifying round.

Vaccello’s girlfriend, Emily Snyder, explained that there were a lot of fun moments behind the scenes that made the Monagesque player’s cinematic performance even more compelling.

It started at Wimbledon, where Vaccello fell on the grass in the first qualifying round against Hamish Stewart and retired in the second set. At the time, there were concerns that he had torn his ACL.

But Vaccello returned to competition a month later, playing in several ATP Challenger Tour events, including one at the Rafa Nadal Academy presented by Movistar in late August. Shortly thereafter, Snyder messaged one of Vaccello’s best friends about his progress.

“Shanghai doesn’t know what will happen next,” she wrote. “He is advancing to the semi-finals in Shanghai.”

Little did Snyder know what was coming. Since Vaccello was originally outside the qualifying round, there was some uncertainty as to whether she would join her Chinese partner. But once they got there, one of the most unlikely matches in the history of the sport began.

After qualifying, Vaccello joined his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the main draw. Vacherot would play one day and the next day, Lindeknech would try to join him for the next round.

On days when Lindecneci was playing, Vaccello and his team would sit in the Frenchman’s box. The group included coach and half-brother Benjamin Balleret.

“We’ll go to Arthur’s games. Arthur’s games will be over. We’ll all go to games together.” [same] Italian restaurant, because Arthur only traveled with one other person,” Snyder said. “At a lot of other games, Ben — Val’s coach and half-brother — would come and he would sit down and almost be Arthur’s coach as well.

On Oct. 2, as Vaccello prepared to face No. 14 seed Alexander Bublik, he and Snyder went to Yuyuan Garden, a beautiful place for an evening stroll. They went to have dinner and then went near the Bund. It was China’s Golden Week and there were many people on the streets, making it difficult to take a taxi.

Valentin Vaccello and Emily Snyder” style=”width:100%;” src=”

The only way they had to pay was Vacherote’s cell phone, and the rate was reduced to five percent. When they finally returned to the hotel, the battery was at one percent. It was a “phew” moment. The next day, Vaccello defeated Bublik, and his breakout game became increasingly notable. The level of play played by the world number 204 is significantly higher than this.

“Every night, we would go back to the hotel and we would stand and stare at each other and just start laughing,” Snyder said. “We wonder, ‘Are we in a dream? Is this real life?'”

Meanwhile, Snyder faces a dilemma. Her transit visa was only valid for 10 days and she had planned to visit a friend in Singapore.

But as Vaccello continued to advance in the tournament, Snyder canceled flights day after day until he defeated Talon Grixpool in the fourth round. At that point, she needed to leave the country for a night.

“We were sitting there at 4 o’clock in the morning after he beat Grixpur, and he said, ‘Well, you’ve got to get on a plane. We’ve got to figure out where to go. Which is the cheapest? Which is the closest?'” Snyder recalled. “But honestly, in a way, it was a routine, it happened so many times, it was like, ‘Okay, what flight are we going to book today?’ because almost every day we were changing flights or booking new flights. He was very calm in the situation. He didn’t actually panic. More importantly to me [was] Panicked. “

Schneider eventually flew to Osaka to spend the night and woke up early the next morning to return to China. Back, there was barely enough time to get back to watch Vaccello’s quarterfinal match against Holger Ruhn. Another day, another triumph for this season’s underdog story.

“I think what helps the whole game is one game at a time,” Snyder said. “Whenever we watch other guys play, I always ask him, ‘What’s going through your mind at this moment?'” Snyder said. “And he [said] At any point in any game, he usually says that if he were winning, he would probably feel more pressure to keep the break going, rather than the other way around.

“He was like, ‘If you’re down, you have nothing to lose, whereas if you win, there’s probably more pressure, more pressure’.”

That’s an appropriate mentality for Vaccello’s game. He lost the first set in six of nine matches but won them all.

“Val kept thinking, ‘I have nothing to lose. I’ve made it this far, why should I stop now?'” Snyder recalled.

Washlow has never stopped and is creating history in Shanghai. Although neither he nor Snyder knew it at the time, they were superstitious during the game.

Shortly after the final, Snyder told Vaccello that she uses the same bathroom every day to avoid changing things up.

“Then he told me, ‘I’m not kidding, I take the same shower every day, twice a day, the same shower,'” Snyder said. “Me and his coach were in the same seat on the way to and from the hotel. We refused to change it. Our reaction was, ‘Well, the routine is working, we’re not going to change anything’.”

Everything leading up to this moment…⁰⁰Arthur and Valentine, what an amazing story❤️⁰⁰#ItAllAddsUp | #rolexshanghaimasters pic.twitter.com/ortZfXbDIt

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 12, 2025

This actually works. They returned home to Monte Carlo on Monday, more than three years after they met in a Monaco bar in the summer of 2022. Snyder was studying abroad in Barcelona — she attended the University of North Carolina — when she took a weekend trip to Monaco. Vaccello only showed up at the bar that night because he was injured, suffering a stress fracture in his foot.

When they arrived at the local airport, Vaccello’s family and closest friends from high school surprised him. As they went to lunch on Tuesday, three people stopped Vaccello after watching what he had accomplished in Shanghai. Celebrations were also held at the Monte Carlo Country Club, including a visit from Prince Albert II.

“Even now that we’re back, I don’t think what actually happened was a complete shock to either of us,” Snyder said. “Obviously, the fact is [with] So does his cousin, which only makes things crazier. The whole process was routine. Val was supposed to play in five challenge matches after Shanghai, but that’s clearly not the case now. “