Valentin Vacherot stole the show and shocked the whole tennis world in China by reaching the semifinals at the Shanghai Masters. Before the tournament, the 26-year-old from Monaco was ranked No. 204 in the world and hadn’t even made the cut to enter the qualifying draw in Shanghai. When he landed in China, he was actually nine spots outside the list, but eventually he managed to get in and won seven matches, making it all the way to the semifinals.
Since 1990, when the Masters 1000 format was introduced, Vacherot has become the second-lowest-ranked player ever to reach a Masters 1000 semifinal, after Chris Woodruff (No. 550) at Indian Wells in 1999. Yet Vacherot isn’t the only player who reached a Masters 1000 semifinal in an unexpected way in 2025.
Before Vacherot, There Was Atmane
A few months earlier, it was Terence Atmane who made a run out of nowhere, taking out back-to-back Top 10 players sTaylor Fritz and Holger Rune to clinch a spot in the semifinals in Cincinnati, where he eventually fell to world No. 1 Jannik Sinner in two hard-fought sets. Atmane also had to get through the qualies to earn his place in the main draw and ended up living the best week of his life–both on court and ranking-wise–as he climbed 67 spots to reach a new career-high of No. 69.
Atmane’s and Vacherot’s runs are actually intertwined, as they’re only the second pair of qualifiers since 1990–after Andrei Pavel and Harel Levy in 2000 (Hamburg-Toronto)–to make the semifinals at consecutive ATP Masters 1000 events. It’s no coincidence, as these two surprising semifinal runs reveal two truths.
2 – Since 1990, qualifiers (Terence Atmane and Valentin Vacherot) have made the SF at consecutive ATP Masters 1000 events for just the second time, after Hamburg-Toronto in 2000 (Andrei Pavel, Harel Levy). Wow. #RolexShanghaiMasters | @SH_RolexMasters @atptour @ATPMediaInfo pic.twitter.com/1KYrQOAXYr
— OptaAce (@OptaAce) October 9, 2025
First Truth: A Format That Works
All in all, the new ATP Masters 1000 format isn’t that bad. Sure, there are still several aspects that need improvement, and players will likely never be fully comfortable with 12-day tournaments instead of seven–they’d rather spend that extra time at home than being stuck at an event.
But there are also positives. The financial side is certainly beneficial for everyone–just a few days ago, the ATP finalized the distribution of a record $18.3 million profit-sharing payout among 186 players. More importantly, as shown by Vacherot and Atmane, the new format gives lower-ranked players a real chance. Under the old system, they barely had any opportunity to even enter the qualifiers, whereas now they’re given the chance to become architects of their own destiny.
And it’s not something we just discovered this year: back in 2023, World No. 129 Aslan Karatsev also reached the semifinals in Madrid.
Second Truth: The Challenge of Climbing the Rankings
Rising through the ATP rankings is extremely difficult, and one of the main reasons why many players remain stuck at a certain level is the lack of opportunities. Everyone is now talking about how almost no one seems able to challenge top players like Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz, who face relatively weak opposition.
Rankings usually don’t lie, but when such runs happen, tennis fans can’t help but wonder how on earth players like Atmane or Vacherot weren’t even close to the Top 100.
One explanation is that climbing the rankings is simply very hard. It’s not that the current Top 100 don’t deserve their spots–many of them earned their place with strong runs in the past–but over the years, maintaining that position has arguably become easier. Recently, the ATP changed its points system by reducing those available at Challenger events and increasing those awarded in ATP tournaments.
The aim was to encourage players to play ATP qualifiers instead of staying on the Challenger circuit. It’s a reasonable adjustment, but it still doesn’t allow for much mobility. So the final question is: does tennis really want to miss out on all the Vacherots and Atmanes still outside the Top 100 waiting for their shot at the big stage?
Main Photo Credit: Imago Images
