“I’m really disappointed about my level today.” In any day in the tennis world, these would be the last words one would expect to hear from a World No. 1 ranked. In fact, it would be considered a crime if it came from someone like Carlos Alcaraz. Yet, here we are, actually witnessing it happen in the 2025 Paris Masters, that too, within the round of 32 as Cameron Norrie deserves the pat on the back for this biggest shockers of the game. Naturally, this victory would expect the British star to have the world of confidence to conquer anything, let alone the support of entire crowd. Yet, it’s actually the opposite of one hoped it to be.

On Tuesday, Cameron Norrie celebrated his “biggest win of my career”. But the celebrations lasted not longer than a couple of days as he endured a 7(7)-6(4), 6-4 defeat at the hands of Valentin Vachero in the round of 16 on Thursday night. And if its the defeat that you think sums up the 30-year-old’s disappointment, then we have some more bad news for you.

Things went off track for Norrie before the match even began as a partisian crowd booed the British No. 1 the moment he entered the court. At least, a report from Express UK says so. Even during the match, on one hand, his rival, born in Southeastern France but represents Monaco, was loudly cheering whenever Valentin Vachero won a point.

Norrie, on the other hand, was rather met with the opposite reaction on centre court inside La Defence Arena. In fact, a moment when he was 30-0 up in the 11th game, the veteran even turned around and twice lifted both arms in the air. But that resorted to more boos, eventually seeing his Monegasque rival secure the unexpected win.

As for Norrie, he has sadly delivered a rather different kind of disappointment, a more unexpected to be fair, given how he had entered the game. A win over Carlos Alcaraz was in itself a guarantee that he would made to the next stage of thr tournament. But talk about catching a break as life surely came at him quite fast.

His exit also means that there are no other British players left. That’s because qualifier Jacob Fearnley fell to Andrey Rublev in straight sets in the opening round. Meanwhile, British No. 1 Jack Draper was sidelined with an arm injury. Interestingly, such is also the case with the rival who sent him home, but he does pertain a chance to do so to make a difference.

After Cameron Norrie win, can Valentin Vacherot bring it home?

Quite an pretty obvious thought, considering Valentin Vacherot is the guy who defeat the guy who the guy who defeated Carlos Alcaraz. A silly trail thought but looking at the Monaco international’s form, its clear that he has what it takes to surprise many.

Not to mention, no other French players remain in the Paris Masters singles draw. Vacherot defeated his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the previous round, bringing him closest to a home player left. The 26-year-old earned his Paris wildcard after winning the Shanghai Masters, where he also beat Rinderknech in the final.

Going forward would also mean that Vacherot has a chance to break a 18-year-old curse. A Frenchman hasn’t won the Paris Masters since Jo-Wilfried Tsonga’s 2008 triumph. Tsonga also reached the 2011 final, while Gael Monfils fell short in finals against Novak Djokovic and Robin Soderling in earlier years.

No pressure but you get the gist of how much Vacherot needs to perform well in his next game, which, by the way, is against Canada’s Felix Auger Aliassime. Acing this quater-final is the only option for him as failure to do so would mean he repeated exactly what Cameron Norrie did after coming off a rather spectacular match. Either way, share your views in the comments below.