Valentin Vacherot nearly lost in Shanghai qualifier… ‘unbelievable’ | ATP Tour

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Vaccello almost lost in Shanghai qualifying… ‘unbelievable’

Exclusive insight into Vacheron Qualifying Round 2 opponent Liam Draxall

October 17, 2025

Two o’clock. That’s the whole reason why Valentin Vacherot was knocked out of the Rolex Shanghai Masters qualifying round.

The world marveled at the history the Monagesque player made in China when Vaccello, ranked 204th in the PIF ATP rankings at the time, became the lowest-ranked champion in ATP Masters 1000 history. But how far away is he from the main draw?

The 26-year-old has repeatedly stated that he needs to withdraw in order to qualify for the tournament. But what happened against Liam Draxle in the second qualifying round?

The former Texas A&M standout narrowly survived the encounter and took a brave shot to save a dream tournament, The Canadian reported.

“I almost pushed him over the edge. It was a five-win tiebreak and he actually hit a service-return winner,” Drax told ATPTour.com. “I served and volleyed and he hit a cross-court angle winner. Then he hit a big serve and got the break.

“I actually got a break point in the third game, 4-3, and he hit a huge serve, 225 kilometers per hour. So it was tough for me as well, but I knew it was a very high-level match.”

According to Infosys ATP statistics, within 2 hours and 48 minutes, the two men’s total points differed by only 5 points. Vaccello saved two of the four break points he faced, which was crucial heading into the main draw.

“I thought to myself, ‘Yeah, he might win some rounds in the main draw,'” Draxl said. “I thought it was just a super high-level game. But for him to win it was unbelievable. Just unbelievable.”

Draxl summed up what happened next: “A mad dash towards Val.”

But I didn’t expect what would happen. Instead, Draxl was happy for a guy he met through college tennis. Draxell played at the University of Kentucky, while Vachero played at Southeastern Conference rival Texas A&M.

“It’s great to see college tennis players doing well, especially the SEC doing well. In college, the competition within our league is always fierce,” said Draxl, ranked No. 118 in the world. [Shelton] and many others, [Adam] Walton. This was indeed an informative conference and the competition was very fierce.

“I loved those days and it was great to see so many people inside [the Top] 100 and do great things. This gives me more confidence and hopefully I can follow suit and break the 100 point mark soon. “