Arthur Rinderknech is all set to take on his cousin Valentin Vacherot in the final of the 2025 Shanghai Masters. It’s shaping up to be one of the most dramatic and personal matchups the ATP Tour has ever witnessed. And it’s also shaping to be one of the most dramatic matchups for the Vacherot-Rinderknech family group chat. “Our family’s WhatsApp group? It’s on fire right now,” laughed Rinderknech ahead of his semifinal.

Both players put on an impressive show as they made their way through the draw—Rinderknech took down Daniil Medvedev in a thrilling three-set semi, while Vacherot pulled off a surprising straight-sets victory against Novak Djokovic—setting the stage for their final match on Sunday. The narrative, however, is not just about pedigree or performance — it’s about family, emotion, and legacy.

According to journalist Quentin Moynet on X, 31-year-old tennis star Lucas Pouille weighed in on the match’s deeper resonance for, stating, “The emotional aspect is going to be important. Playing a friend is special. But here, it’s not a friend, it’s his cousin, his family. One of the two is going to accomplish something that Gasquet, Monfils, and Simon didn’t manage to do. There’s a huge stake.”

Indeed, one of the two cousins will emerge an ATP-1000 winner, a feat that previous French players like Richard Gasquet, Gael Monfils, and Gilles Simon were unable to accomplish, despite their many successes on court.

The journey leading up to this point has been absolutely breathtaking. Vacherot, who was ranked outside the top 200, came into Shanghai as a late alternate and pulled off an impressive run. He pulled off a semi-final win against Djokovic, 6–3, 6–4, making him the lowest-ranked player to ever reach a Masters 1000 final.

In the meantime, Arthur Rinderknech, who is seeded and has a bit more experience, managed to get through a challenging match against Medvedev (4–6, 6–2, 6–4) to reach the family final. That both semi-finals went in their favor, was something out of a movie script, turning Shanghai into a real emotional rollercoaster.

Pouille’s comment that the winner will go one step beyond French legends like Monfils, Simon, or Gasquet really adds some depth to the conversation. It’s more than just a title; it’s a moment that they’ll remember for a lifetime. Indeed, it’s definitely been a dream for Arthur Rinderknech as he shared his thoughts about the finals.

Arthur Rinderknech’s candid confession before facing his cousin

Cousins Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot have pulled off some amazing upsets in the tournament, both making it to the championship match. This sets up a unique family showdown on one of tennis’s biggest stages.

After Rinderknech’s win against Daniil Medvedev in the semi-final, the Frenchman said, “I don’t know. In the best dreams we couldn’t have dreamt about this. I can’t even say it’s a dream. I don’t think even one person in our family dreamt about it. It wasn’t a dream. It’s just a dream that came out of nowhere and we started believing it maybe in the quarters.”

Arthur Rinderknech talked about how he went from just dreaming about things to actually making them happen, thanks to a bunch of tough wins along the way. “Now we are here. We fought so many matches. Somehow we are both guys standing at the end. Just incredible,” he said.

After his win over Medvedev, any tennis fan could feel the emotion in the air when Vacherot headed back to the court and shared a big, warm hug with his cousin. Well, I guess we’ll just have to wait and see who comes out on top and grabs that title at the exciting Shanghai Masters!