Tennis - ATP Masters 1000 - Shanghai Masters - Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, Shanghai, China - October 12, 2025 Monaco's Valentin Vacherot celebrates with the trophy and France's Arthur Rinderknech after winning the final REUTERS/Go Nakamura
PARIS (Reuters) -Cousins Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech are set to face each other in the Paris Masters second round on Wednesday following their Shanghai Masters final clash this month.
Vacherot, who defeated Frenchman Rinderknech in Shanghai to become the first player from Monaco to win an ATP title, cruised past 14th seed Jiri Lehecka 6-1 6-3 in the first round in Paris on Tuesday.
"I'm living a fairytale... that's why I'm playing so well, I'm enjoying every second," said Vacherot, who was 204th in the world when he became the lowest-ranked player to win an ATP Masters 1000 tournament.
Rinderknech, a wildcard in the tournament like his cousin, beat Fabian Marozsan 7-6(5) 7-6(4) on Monday to reach the second round.
"This time I am the first one to play and (Vacherot) has to follow suit. I prefer it this way, because it was tiring in Shanghai," Rinderknech said.
Vacherot said he was proud of how Rinderknech had played against Marozsan.
"It was such a tough match against Fabian... I'm just so excited for the crowd, for the family. We're just going to enjoy this match so much, once again," he added.
(Reporting by Chiranjit Ojha in Bengaluru, editing by Ed Osmond)
