SHANGHAI, CHINA – OCTOBER 09: Novak Djokovic of Serbia returns a shot against Zizou Bergs of Belgium in the Men’s singles Quarterfinal on day 11 of the 2025 Shanghai Rolex Masters at Qi Zhong Tennis Center on October 09, 2025 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty Images)
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With Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Alexander Zverev all now absent from the Shanghai Masters draw, it appeared that Novak Djokovic would have a good shot at winning his 101st career title.
Djokovic, the 24-time Grand Slam champion, has won an even 100 titles, trailing only Jimmy Connors (109) and Roger Federer (103).
But the 38-year-old Serb stumbled in the Shanghai Masters semis, losing to world No. 204 Valentin Vacherot, 6-3, 6-4.
Vacherot, who was born in France and is No. 1 in Monaco, became the lowest-ranked player to get to an ATP Masters 1000 final since the series was introduced in 1990.
The qualifier caused the legend problems with a mix of drop shots and concussive baseline shots.
Djokovic, meantime, needed medical timeouts during both sets.
“So it’s all about him. I wish him all the best in the finals and the better player won today.”
Vacherot could face his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final. The Frenchman faced No. 16 Daniil Medvedev in the second semifinal.
“This is just crazy… just to be on the other side of the court (with Djokovic) was an unbelievable experience,” said Vacherot, who became the first player from Monaco to reach an ATP tour final in the open era.