Monaco’s Vacherot, ranked 204th, ousted Djokovic, and his cousin Linder Knecke defeated Medvedev in the tennis masters final.
Cousins Valentin Bachelot and Arthur Lindernecke will meet in the dream final of the Shanghai Masters after pulling off a spectacular upset of former champions Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals.
Bachelot, ranked 204th in the world, defeated struggling Djokovic 6-3, 6-4 on Saturday to become the lowest ranked player to reach the ATP Masters 1000 final.
Hours later, Rinderknek defeated former US Open champion Medvedev 4-6, 6-2, 6-4, completing an extraordinary family double.
“I can’t say it was a dream, because I don’t think anyone in my family ever dreamed of it,” Rinderknek said of playing against his cousin in Sunday’s final.
“It was a dream that suddenly appeared.”
Qualifier Bachero troubled Djokovic with drop shots and penalty rallies, and the fourth-seeded Serbian struggled with turns and took medical timeouts during both sets.
“This is crazy… just being on the other side of the court with[Djokovic]was an incredible experience,” said Bachelot, who became the first player from Monaco in the Open era to reach the ATP Tour Finals.
Djokovic broke Vashro in the first game of the match, but the 26-year-old quickly broke back to take a 4-3 lead before the Serbian took his first medical timeout.
Bashro easily won the next two games to secure the first set and forced Djokovic into a 12-minute battle in the first game of the second set, but the 38-year-old managed to survive two break points to win.
Djokovic lost his serve on a double fault, and Bashro took a 5-4 lead to take the set.
“I’m very happy to play with you at least once. Please don’t retire,” Bachelot told Djokovic as both players shook hands at the net.
Djokovic, a four-time Shanghai Masters champion, congratulated Bashro, who is on the verge of breaking into the top 50 in the world rankings.
“Considering the qualification, this is a great story. I told him online that he had a great tournament, but more than that, his attitude was very good and his game was great,” the world No. 5 told reporters.
“So it’s all about him. I wish him good luck in the final and that the better player wins today.”
“I’m going to fight like crazy.”
World No. 54 Rinderknecke was cautious after losing the first set to former US Open champion Medvedev, but got an early break and saved five break points in a 12-minute match to take a 3-0 lead in the second set.
Medvedev struggled against the 30-year-old Frenchman’s strong returns and found the back of the net multiple times from the baseline as Rinderknek won the second set 6-2 as Bachelot watched from the stands.
Medvedev saved the first match point with a 207 km middle serve, but conceded a point with a double fault in the second set, and Rinderknev took the third set with a decisive break.
“I thought, ‘Maybe I’m going to lose, but I’m going to fight like crazy,'” Rinderknek said.
“I will try to help (Valentin) by tiring him up for tomorrow so that he can start the game a little faster, at least physically.
“Then somehow I got a break and the next guy ended the set. That’s when I thought, ‘You know what? I’m going to try everything and do my best. And somehow it worked out.’
