It hasn’t been Novak Djokovic‘s season, the way it used to be. Though he made the semis of all four Grand Slams, playing five sets against the likes of Jannik Sinner and Carlos Alcaraz has proved one step too far for Djokovic at the age of 38. In a season marked by just one title—his hundredth—at Geneva, the trend continued in Shanghai. It’s a tournament he’d won a record 4 times before, but even in Sinner and Alcaraz’s absence, Djokovic was unable to make that final push.

Monaco’s Valentin Vacherot couldn’t dream of a better way to enter his maiden Masters 1000 final than achieving a victory against the Serbian tennis legend. The 204-ranked rising ATP talent left the crowd at the Stadium Court on Saturday flabbergasted. In straight sets, he beat Djokovic with a scoreline of 6-3, 6-4, to secure his spot in the final at the Shanghai Masters.

Even after this painful result, the Serb was gracious in accepting that Vacherot was the better player on court. While shaking hands at the net, Djokovic said, “You deserve it. You played unbelievable. Keep it going.” To this, Vacherot simply urged him, “Such a pleasure to play at least once against you. Don’t retire.”

Surprisingly enough, it is the first time that Djokovic has lost consecutive matches at ATP level against players ranked outside the ATP’s top 200 in his career, according to OptaAce.

Vacherot is now on his way to touch another career milestone. When the rankings list gets released this Monday, he will no longer be called a player outside top 200. In fact, he will now enter the top 100. All thanks to a memorable and impactful Shanghai campaign.

In the Live Rankings, as of now, he has already jumped 146 spots to claim the 58th ranking. That is absolutely remarkable to say the least. This effect, however, will reflect officially once the updated list goes public in two days. Coming back to his sensational win, he was unable to express his feelings in words after besting Novak Djokovic.

Valentin Vacherot on what winning against Novak Djokovic means to him

The 26-year-0ld ATP pro from Monaco was trying to hold his tears after accomplishing the historic result. Being someone who has grown up watching Novak Djokovic, it was nothing less than a dream come true to face him, let alone beat him.

“I’m not realising (what’s happened), so I can’t give any words on it,” confessed Valentin Vacherot after the match. “This is just crazy. First of all, to just be on the other side of the court (from Novak) was an unbelievable experience. I think I’ve got so much to learn from this match, from him. Even for myself, I’ve got a lot to keep.” reported ATP Tour’s website on October 11.

Being a fanboy, despite his win, he added, “It was an hour and 40 minutes of pure joy, even though not many people wanted me to keep going. He’s really appreciated here. He has won four times. I got a bit lost in all his titles when they were announcing him, but it was an unreal experience. Now I’m probably just going to enjoy the win tonight and think about the final tomorrow.”

For the uninitiated, Djokovic also suffered from a lower back issue in the middle of their clash. He was visibly in pain. So much so, that the Serbian had to take a medical time out before resuming. Later, he was seen walking gingerly. Still, credit goes to Vacherot to keep himself calm and making it all the way. Despite being 38, Novak Djokovic is someone who can always produce a moment of magic to seize control of the match – but it wasn’t the case this time.

As for Vacherot, he has now become only the second player ranked outside of top 200 this century, to claim three top 20 wins in a single event. Before Djokovic, he also beat No.11 Holger Rune in the quarterfinal and Alexander Bublik (No.17) in Round of 64 in Shanghai.