Tennis: Valentin Vacherot Reassures Himself at the ATP 500 in Tokyo

Valentin Vacherot’s Asian tour hadn’t really started the way he would have hoped. As the Shanghai Masters 1000 approaches, the Monegasque is playing for high stakes. Eliminated in his opening match at the ATP 250 in Chengdu, Vacherot however quickly got over his defeat to achieve an almost perfect run at the ATP 500 in Tokyo.

ATP 500 in Tokyo: Valentin Vacherot regains a dose of confidence a few days before Shanghai

Valentin Vacherot seemingly had trouble coming down from his cloud nine, reached with his national team a few days ago at the Davis Cup. But after an insufficient performance at the ATP 250 in Chengdu, in China, as the number 1 seed, the Monegasque bounces back positively this week at the ATP 500 in Tokyo.

Facing Alexander Blockx in the first round on Wednesday, the Monegasque prevailed in two sets 7/6-7/6, after a battle lasting just over two hours. Two extremely tight sets, where both players broke serve once each and traded blows until the tiebreaks. A duel between two big servers. And when Valentin Vacherot is successful with his first serve, he becomes virtually untouchable: 76% first serves and 7 aces.

In the round of 16, another sizeable duel for Valentin Vacherot. Against Greek player Stefanos Tsitsipas, also struggling this season but showing good things recently, the Monegasque had to work hard to secure victory in 3 sets. The first two sets are tight between the two players. With their respective serving quality, Tsitsipas takes the first set 6-4 and Vacherot the second in a tiebreak, 7/6. In a breathless finish, Valentin Vacherot managed to raise his game another notch and achieve a crucial break midway through the third set. Unflappable on his serve, the Monegasque finally wins 4/6-7/6-6/4.

Against Arthur Fils in the quarterfinals, one of the season’s standout performers, Valentin Vacherot proved resilient to secure victory in 3 sets. Down 5-3 in the first set, the Monegasque saved two set points before completely turning around world number 9 and taking the first set 7/5. After conceding the second set to an aggressive Fils, Vacherot again pulled off a spectacular comeback in the deciding set. Down 4-2, he rattled off four consecutive games to secure his place in the semifinals. Final score: 7/5-4/6-6/4.

Valentin Vacherot’s fine run is unfortunately stopped at the gates of the final. Facing Jiri Lehecka, the Monegasque appeared tired and well below the level he showed over recent days. Struggling in every aspect of his game, even with his serve, he therefore lost in two sets, 6/4-6/2.
Valentin Vacherot’s next appointment is shaping up to be crucial. He will be competing at the Shanghai Masters 1000, as defending champion, and will therefore play with enormous pressure and an almost obligation to achieve a good result.

WTA 1000 Beijing: Diane Parry loses her composure right from the start

For her part, Nice’s Diane Parry was entered in the WTA 1000 Beijing tournament as the 22nd seed. Her ranking spared her the first round, but France’s number 1 completely missed her match against Australian Taylah Preston.

Yet it was indeed she who had the match in hand at the start of the encounter. In control, she served for the first set at 5/2 then at 5/4, before completely falling apart. Eventually, she concedes the first set in a tiebreak, and appears nonexistent in the second set. Final score: 7/6-6/1. A real underperformance for Diane Parry, whom we should see again in about ten days at the WTA 1000 in Wuhan.