French tennis star Arthur Rinderknech will play his first Masters final on Sunday afternoon against his cousin, Monegasque player Valentin Vacherot, in a tennis fairytale few could have believed possible at the start of the tournament.
Rinderknech, ranked 54th in the ATP standings, pulled off wins against top-20 players, including Felix Auger-Aliassime, Jiri Lehecka, and world No. 3 Alexander Zverev, before facing off against the hot-tempered former US Open champion Daniil Medvedev on Saturday.
But Vacherot's journey to his potential debut Masters title is even more unlikely, with the 26-year-old ranked in the 200s.
Vacherot, who played college tennis at Texas A&M like his cousin, was drafted into the competition as an alternate at the very last minute, following the withdrawal of Luca Nardi.
He went on to beat Nicholas Basavareddy and Liam Draxl in qualifying, before scything through seeded players including Tomas Mahac, Alexander Bublik, and Holger Rune.
The player then pulled off an unthinkable victory against 24-time Grand Slam winner Novak Djokovic - although the Serbian serial champion was battling through the contest with injury.
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