Valerio pens a tennis fairy tale: from alternate to Masters champion, overturning his cousin to claim his first career title

The Rolex Shanghai Masters concluded. A fairy-tale final brought a perfect ending to the event—Monaco’s Valentin Valerio, ranked 204th in the world, came back from behind to defeat his cousin and former college teammate Arthur Landrickenesi 4-6, 6-3, 6-3, capturing his first-ever tour-level title. This victory not only made him the first player from Monaco to win a tour-level title in the Open Era but also set a new record for the lowest-ranked ATP1000 Masters champion since 1990.

“Everything that just happened feels unreal. I don’t even know where I am right now; it’s absolutely crazy,” Valerio said, unable to hide his excitement after winning the title.

“I’m very happy with my performance over the past two weeks, and I want to thank everyone who has supported me since the beginning of my career. There’s always one loser in a match, but today there are two winners. Our entire family is a winner, and this story is truly legendary for tennis.”

The stage for this final sharply contrasted with their past. In 2018, Valerio and Landrickenesi played side by side at Texas A&M University, but now they faced each other on the center court of one of the ATP Tour’s top events, the Shanghai Masters, competing for the championship in front of a packed crowd.

Over seven years, their careers diverged significantly: 30-year-old Landrickenesi reached a career-high ranking of 42, with his best result being runner-up at the 2022 Adelaide ATP250, and had never advanced past the third round in a Masters event. Meanwhile, 26-year-old Valerio entered the tournament with only one prior tour-level win, earned earlier this year in Monte Carlo.

Valerio’s path to the title is a model of an underdog comeback. Starting from the qualifiers, he defeated players like Jere, Bublyk, and Mahachitarin, becoming the first player from Monaco to reach the Masters semifinals; then he caused upsets over Rune and four-time Shanghai champion Djokovic to reach the final. In the final, he showed remarkable resilience, marking his sixth comeback victory after losing the first set in this tournament (including qualifiers), ultimately becoming only the third qualifier to win a Masters title, following Roberto Carre in 1996 Hamburg and Albert Portas in 2001 Hamburg.

“When I was behind, I had no choice but to give my best,” Valerio explained about his comeback. “I didn’t do that in the first set; he played better. But after breaking serve in the second set, the crowd’s energy lifted me, and together we put on an exciting match.” Facing his cousin, Valerio admitted that mental adjustment was key: “I tried to put aside the thought that ‘he’s family’ and focused on the match itself. He handled the pressure better in the first set, but I eventually found a way to turn it around.”

Notably, the two supported each other throughout the event, cheering from the sidelines and encouraging each other via family group chats. Landrickenesi also performed impressively, defeating Zverev, Medvedev, and two other top-20 players, achieving his 100th tour-level win in the semifinals and becoming the ninth Frenchman to reach a Masters final. In the first set of the final, he hit 12 winners with only 2 unforced errors, holding an advantage, and although he did not win the title, his ranking surged 26 places to 28th, setting a new career high on Monday.

Valerio’s gains were even greater: his live ranking jumped 164 spots from 204th to 40th, entering the top 50 and top 100 for the first time on Monday; he also earned $1,124,380 in prize money, far exceeding his previous career total of $594,077. Additionally, he became the eighth first-time tour winner this season and the fifth male player in Masters history to claim his first title at this level.

This final between two unseeded players marked only the third occurrence in Masters history. From alternate to Masters champion, Valerio wrote a tennis fairy tale in Shanghai with two weeks of outstanding performance.

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