As Arthur Rinderknech thumped the final ace to book his place in the Shanghai Masters semi-finals, the Frenchman raised a finger and pointed to his coaching box. Rinderknech locked eyes with his cousin, Valentin Vacherot, who had celebrated the exact same way the day before. A wide grin spread across Rinderknech’s face as he joined his cousin in the semi-finals in Shanghai and set the family group chat ablaze back home.
The final weeks of the tennis season can often feel strained, particularly so this week in Shanghai as exhausted players have battled not just their weary bodies and minds but the brutal heat and humidity. But amid the general exhaustion, a wonderful story has broken through, one involving the 30-year-old journeyman Rinderknech and his younger cousin Vacherot, the history-making 26-year-old Monegasque, who started the week as an alternate in qualifying and ranked outside the world’s top 200.
