TENNIS: Vacherot shows Shanghai success was no fluke by shining in Melbourne

MELBOURNE — Valentin Vacherot proved his breakthrough at last year’s ATP Masters was no fluke after becoming the first player from Monaco to reach the third round of a Grand Slam at the Australian Open on Thursday.

The 27-year-old gained international attention at the Shanghai Masters in October when he defeated his cousin, Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech, to claim his first ATP title. The victory also propelled him into the top 40 in the world rankings, after previously being ranked outside the top 200.

Vacherot continued his strong form in the new season, following up his Shanghai success by reaching the Paris Masters quarterfinals. He then advanced to the third round in Melbourne with a 6-1, 6-3, 4-6, 6-2 win over Rinky Hijikata.

“I’m trying to be the first for everything these days, but no, it’s great,” the Monegasque trailblazer told reporters. “I have a lot of pride behind me, the country. I know a lot of people follow me back home. A lot of them stayed awake (to watch), I’m really glad about that. I’m happy to have won for them.”

He added, “Yeah, I don’t really look at all this, but of course, in the back of my head, there’s a little pride.”

Vacherot acknowledged that some may have viewed his Shanghai and Paris performances as short-term successes, but he believes his results have proven otherwise.

“If some people were wondering if I had the level, maybe they have more answers,” he said. “I don’t look much at social media. I don’t read about that. I just play tennis and try to play as good this season and every tournament. We’ll see. We do the counts at the end.”

The world No. 31 will face American eighth seed Ben Shelton next. Vacherot said he was excited to take on a top-10 opponent, especially one who also played college tennis.

“I’m excited. I’m really happy to play him, because he played two years college, and we had his first year in common, so he was really young,” Vacherot said. “He was 17 or 18, but already pretty impressive with his serve … it allows me to play some top-10 guys and see how I can do.”

-Reporting by Shrivathsa Sridhar in Melbourne; Editing by Tom Hogue/Reuters