Roger Federer has been spotted in the stands at the Shanghai Masters. The retired tennis icon turned up to watch cousins Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot face off in Sunday’s final. It’s been a fairytale fortnight for the family – Vacherot was an alternate in qualifying when he landed, finally made it in the draw, and stormed through to become the lowest-ranked finalist in Masters 1000 history.
Ranked down at No. 204 in the world, Vacherot earned the biggest win of his career over Novak Djokovic in Saturday’s semi-final. And Rinderknech has been on an impressive run of his own, taking out four top-20 players, including world No. 3 Alexander Zverev.
Federer is sponsored by luxury watch brand Rolex, the naming sponsor of the tournament, and also became an ambassador for the Rolex Shanghai Masters a couple of years ago. The 20-time Major winner also watched last year’s final, which saw Jannik Sinner beat Djokovic.
And he’s back in the stadium this year for the unexpected final between Rinderknech and Vacherot. The Monegasque qualifier will certainly be happy to see Federer in the stands, as they’ve not crossed paths all week.
Speaking after he stunned an ailing Djokovic in the semi-finals, Vacherot said: “No, I haven’t got to. I didn’t cross him yet. I didn’t cross him yet. My girlfriend has seen him 10 times, I think, and me zero times. I don’t get it. Every time he’s not in the place where I am.”
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