Looking at Valentin Vacherot‘s epic run in Shanghai this month, one can’t help but think of Queen’s immortal track Bohemian Rhapsody’s opening line. “Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?” Arriving as a 204-ranked qualifier, he went on to clinch his biggest ATP career title. It also brought in a huge influx of cash for the Monegasque, earning over a million dollars. And the first thing the 26-year-old thought of to make the best use of that much money was to do something special, heart-touching for his parents.

Prior to capturing the trophy in Shanghai, Vacherot’s entire career prize money stood at $594,077. However, after he won the top honor following his three-set thrilling win over his cousin brother Arthur Rinderknech, his account witnessed a surge. Vacherot earned $1,124,380 for his historic triumph. His updated prize money total now stands at $1,718,457. During a recent interaction with Tennis Channel, Vacherot expressed his honest thoughts on the fortune he made in Shanghai. To him, however, it doesn’t matter much, except for a special reason. “To be honest it is more about people reminding me of the prize money because this is the last thing I will actually think about. To be honest it is pretty crazy to think but I don’t think about it, I forget about it sometimes.”

He then went on to spill the beans about how he was going to utilize the prize money for his parents. It appears he had been planning a surprise for them for a long time. “I already told my parents, it is now or never, like, ‘I am booking your flights to Melbourne and you guys are coming with me.'” He added, “It is all about, like, just investing into taking people with me to tournaments.”

Vacherot also underlined that with the prize money, he will try to “help my coaches a bit more.” Coming back to his own Shanghai experience, and also his parents’, he mentioned that it was just the second time in his life “flying business (class). So that felt pretty good. Also, yeah, but the long haul to make them business (class) first.”

Last but not least, he emphasized his goals moving forward to get even better. Most importantly, the prize money will go into “investing in my career because basically a second career is starting for me.” True indeed. The victory in Shanghai was special for him, and the Monegasque had a priceless reaction to his glory.

Valentin Vacherot speaks about his epic Shanghai win

In a rare ‘family final’, Valentin Vacherot defeated cousin Rinderknech with a scoreline of 4-6, 6-3, 6-3. In doing so, he became the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 champion in history (since 1990). While entering his Shanghai campaign, he was ranked 204th in the world – but not anymore. Taking a huge leap of 164 spots, he has broken into the top 50. As of now, he is World No.40. Truly remarkable.

Following his win in the summit clash, Vacherot was in disbelief initially. “It is unreal what just happened. I have no idea what is happening right now. I am not even dreaming, it is just crazy,” he mentioned, as reported on the ATP Tour’s website on October 12. “I am just so happy with my performances the past two weeks. I just want to thank everyone who has helped with my career since the beginning.”

Sharing his views on besting his cousin for the trophy, he continued, “There has to be one loser but I think there is two winners today, one family that won. And I think for the sport of tennis, the story is unreal.”

On his way to the title, the 26-year-old also outperformed the likes of World No.11 Holger Rune before edging out none other than 24-time slam king Novak Djokovic. Clearly, this campaign was one where Vacherot proved his mettle against the best of the best. That’s what makes his victory even more deserving and memorable. What do you have to say about his mind-boggling Shanghai run? Let us know in the comments below.