He Australian Open has been leaving many moments that will remain in the history of the tournament. In the early hours of Saturday in Argentina, the center of attention The tennis player from Monaco took them, Valentin Vacherotwho executed a unusual shot to return his rival’s serve and awakened a great public reaction that was present at the Margaret Court Arena.
With the match tied 3-3 in the first set and the game score favoring him 40-0, the world No. 7, Ben Sheltonhe prepared to serve to get ahead of the scorer without waiting for what could happen to you on the other side of the network.
Shelton’s second serve hit very high due to the spin it took and left Vacherot in a bad lightwho was uncomfortable returning it. With the racket almost next to his face, the Monegasque hit him and the ball curved outwards of the court and went to the other side to chop right on the line. It should be noted that it was a double blow; It is noticeable when the shot is played in slow motion and is even noticed by the commentator, who speaks of a “double hit.” However, The shot is valid because it is produced involuntarily and accidentally in the same movement.
The North American seemed surprised by his rival’s return and put the ball into play with a backhand slice without too many demands. However, Vacherot could not take advantage of it because he finished the play with a parallel right that went just long.
“It’s one of the best shots I’ve ever seen.”he managed to say commentator of the match after the completion of the point. For its part, the official account of the Australian Open defined the Monegasque’s blow in a particular way: “We see it, but we don’t believe it. This Valentin Vacherot return was wild”.
Finally, the meeting would end in favor of Shelton after defeating Vacherot 6-4, 6-4, 7-6 (5) in two hours and 17 minutes of play. The American will face the Norwegian Casper Ruudin the early hours of Monday, for a place in the quarterfinals of the first Grand Slam of the season. For his part, the Monegasque tennis player completed a major tournament and became the third player in the history of his country to reach the third round of a major.
Vacherot is going through its best moment on the circuit and unthinkable by him until October 2025. The world No. 31 was below the Top 200 until his great performance at the Shanghai Masterswhere was champion having even disputed the classification, completely changed his life.
From the title obtained in China, the Monegasque climbed to the position No. 40 of the ATP Rankings and climbed more than 160 positions in the classification. Furthermore, in that week of competition, the tennis player He won more money than in 10 years of official action on the circuitalthough with full seasons starting in 2021, when he abandoned university tennis.
However, Vacherot remains calm and aims to show the public that what happened in Shanghai will not be an exception in his career. “I am sure that many people thought it was just a weekalthough I also did well later in the Masters 1000 in Paris, probably because of my confidence at the moment, so I’m happy to win as many games as I can”.
“If some were wondering if I had the level, maybe they have more answers, but I don’t look at social media much or anything like that. I just play tennis and try to play my best this season and in every tournament.. We will do the counting at the end,” said the Monegasque prior to the start of the Australian Open.
