The rise of Valentin Vacherot — especially at the Masters 1000 level — has continued. And it has continued at his home tournament.
Vacherot, who won the Shanghai title last fall before reaching the Paris quarterfinals, now finds himself in the semis of the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters. The 27-year-old Monegasque has treated the fans to victories over Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Lorenzo Musetti, Hubert Hurkacz, and Alex de Minaur — with three coming in three sets plus a 7-6(6), 7-5 defeat of Musetti.
Standing in Vacherot’s way of a place in the championship match is world No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz. Saturday’s showdown marks their first-ever meeting.
Although Jannik Sinner can lay claim to being the best hard-court player in the world after capturing the Sunshine Double, Alcaraz is without question the tour’s dominant force on clay. It is no surprise that the Spaniard has bounced back from underwhelming results in Indian Wells and Miami to restore order in Monte-Carlo. Alcaraz dropped a set to Tomas Martin Etcheverry in round three, but his week also features a 6-1, 6-3 victory over Sebastian Baez and a 6-3, 6-0 rout of Alexander Bublik.
Beyond the feel of destiny, it is hard to like Vacherot’s chances. With no days off in between matches, the world No. 23 is coming off two physically and emotionally draining battles against Hurkacz and De Minaur that lasted a combined five hours and 17 minutes. That is hardly ideal preparation for a matchup with the top seed and defending champion.
Other than home-court advantage for Vacherot, every check mark goes to Alcaraz.
Pick: Alcaraz in 2