Valentin Vacherot beats cousin Arthur Rinderknech again after winning in Shanghai
Valentin Vaccello says he finds it easier to play against less familiar opponents after beating his cousin Arthur Lindeknych for the second time in three weeks at the Paris Masters.
Monaco’s Vaccello overcame a slow start to win 6-7 (9-11) 6-3 6-4 and set up a third-round showdown with British No. 2 Cameron Norrie.
The 26-year-old became the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 winner (ranked 204th in the world) since the series began in 1990 with a shock win over Lindeknecht in the Shanghai Masters final earlier this month.
“I definitely feel more nervous than I did yesterday,” said Vaccello, who had never faced his cousin in a professional game before in Shanghai.
“Is it because there’s Arthur on the other side of the net? Maybe. Anyway, it might be easier to play against players I don’t know that well.”
Vaccello defeated Alexander Bublik, Holger Ruhn and Novak Djokovic to reach the final in China, where he beat his cousin 4-6 6-3 6-3 to win his first career ATP title and £824,000 in prize money.
Vaccello, who rose to world No. 40, easily defeated world No. 14 Jiri Lehecka 6-1 6-3 on Tuesday and set up a rematch with world No. 29 Rinderknech.
“The first set was not easy for either of us. We were both very nervous and I think it showed,” Vaccello said.
“After the first set, I felt a lot better and the pressure was off a little bit. Overall, I was happy with the way I was serving and the pressure I was able to put on him in his second game.”
Lindeknych said: “This is different from Shanghai. This game is completely different.
“Realistically, there’s not a lot missing in terms of being offensive and a winner. He deserves to win.”
After the cameras on the sidelines in Shanghai wrote “grandpa and grandma would be proud”, Vaccello wrote “I love my family” in front of the cameras in Paris.
He will now face Nori, who came from behind to beat world number one Carlos Alcaraz 4-6 6-3 6-4 on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, world number two Jannik Sinner defeated Belgian Zizou Bergs 6-4 6-2.
Alcaraz’s early exit means Sinner will regain the world number one spot if he wins the Paris Masters.
Defending champion Alexander Zverev defeated Argentina’s Camilo Hugo Carabelli 6-7 (5-7) 6-1 7-5 to reach the third round, but Norwegian eighth seed Caspar Rudd lost his first match to 50th-ranked Germany’s Daniel Altmaier 6-3 7-5.
Russia’s former world number one Daniil Medvedev was eliminated into the third round after Grigor Dimitrov withdrew with a shoulder injury, while Felix Auger-Aliassime beat Alexander Muller 5-7 7-6 (7-5) 7-6 (7-4).
