He Australian Open 2026, which opens the Grand Slam season, is leaving many plays to remember, but without a doubt the execution of Valentin Vacherot It will be one of those that will occupy a place in the compact final of the big shots of the tournament.
The tennis player born in Monaco does 27 years He took a strange shot in his match against Ben Shelton that surprised locals and strangers by the effect it took and the parable it drew. With the duel even 3-3 in the first set and the scoreboard game favoring him 40-0he American prepared to take out to get ahead of the scorer without waiting for what would happen on the other side of the net.
Shelton’s service hit very high and caught Vacherot in the wrong position, who was uncomfortable returning it. With the racket almost next to his face, the Monegasque hit it, the ball made a singular curvature out of the court and went to the other side to hit just over the line. The American seemed surprised and returned a backhand without too many demands, but Vacherot could not take advantage of the clean and jerk because he finished the play with a deep forehand that went long.
“We see it, but we don’t believe it. This return from Valentin Vacherot was crazy”wrote the official account of the Australian Open. The tennis player, on his social networks, only shared a replay that perfectly shows the strange effect that the ball took after that unusual hit. “Slow motion is cinema”described the profile of the tournament to that scene.
This blow, in any case, did not allow him to change the mood of what would be the spirit of the match, with Shelton largely dominating. The North American 23 yearswhich figure 7° del ranking ATP but it comes from being 5th in the world a few weeks ago, it easily made it to the next phase with a 6-4, 6-4 and 7-6 after 2 hours and 18 minutes of activity in the Margaret Court Arena from Melbourne.
Likewise, Vacherot, of 27 yearsis at the most outstanding moment of his career. It arrived positioned as 31st in the world to this Australian Open, after having reached his highest ranking (30th) at the end of 2025. He beat the American Martin Dam in the debut and left out the Australian Rinky Hijikata in the second phase to achieve first time in his career a third round of a Grand Slam.
Without a doubt, in October 2025 he passed through one of the great events of the tennis year when he won his first title – and only one so far – at the ATP level, surprising the Shanghai Masters 1000: In the final he beat his cousin, the Frenchman, 4-6, 6-3 and 6-3 Arthur Rinderknech.
Beyond this Monegasque, among the outstanding scenes of this first Grand Slam of the year is also that of the Greek Maria Sakkari, who made a particular return in her duel against Léolia Jeanjean that surprised her. “I had never hit him like that in my life,” he admitted after the game. In addition, Iga Swiatek and Marie Bouzkova starred in a unique “Matrix-style” point in the second round duel.
