Arthur Rinderknech stunned Daniil Medvedev in the semi-finals of the Shanghai Masters on Saturday to tee up a fairytale final showdown with his cousin, Valentin Vacherot. 

Earlier in the day, world number 204 Vacherot earned a 6-3 6-4 victory over 24-time major champion Djokovic, becoming the lowest-ranked finalist in ATP Masters 1000 history. 

That teed up the prospect of the Monegasque facing Rinderknech for the trophy in a family affair, and the latter did the business against Medvedev, triumphing 4-6 6-2 6-4.

Rinderknech appeared to be struggling with the intense humidity after losing the first set, but he gained an early break in the second and did not look back after saving five break points in his next service game.

Medvedev only won one more point against Rinderknech's serve in the second set as the Frenchman teed up a decider, which stayed on serve for the first nine games.

With Medvedev serving to remain in the tournament at 4-5, Rinderknech kept his opponent under constant pressure. The Russian saved one match point, but after two deuces, he double-faulted when facing another match point to prompt wild celebrations from Rinderknech.

Vacherot, who had returned to centre court to watch the closing moments of the match, then climbed down to embrace his cousin, who was in disbelief.

"In the best dreams, we couldn't have dreamt about this, so I can't even say it's a dream, because I don't think even one person in our family dreamt about it," Rinderknech said. 

What dreams are made of! 

Unseeded cousins Arthur Rinderknech and Valentin Vacherot will contest the 2025 @SH_RolexMasters final  pic.twitter.com/yawyP1sB2v

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 11, 2025

"So it wasn't a dream, it's just a dream that came out of nowhere. We started believing it, I would say, in the quarters, maybe…

"Now we are here, we fought through so many matches, and somehow we are the two guys standing at the end, so it's just incredible."

Rinderknech even admitted that he thought the match was a lost cause after the first set, and his only aim was to tire Medvedev out and put him at a disadvantage ahead of a possible final against Vacherot.

"I played the last two matches during the day, and even if it's a bit hotter, it's a lot drier, and tonight it was really humid," he said.

"I couldn't finish a point with Daniil, and I was pretty much just dead after a set, and I was like, 'You know what, maybe I'm going to lose, but I'm going to fight like crazy, I'm going to make him tired and at least help Val to try to start the final a little bit ahead physically'."

The breakthrough of a lifetime 

Arthur Rinderknech defeats Medvedev 4-6 6-2 6-4 to reach the biggest final of his career.@SH_RolexMasters | #RolexShanghaiMasters pic.twitter.com/3q8VBzCygD

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 11, 2025

Data Debrief: Family foes end 22-year wait

Rinderknech (42nd in the world) and Vacherot will be only the third pair of unseeded players to meet in an ATP Masters 1000 final since the format's inception in 1990. 

This previously occurred at Hamburg in 1996 (Roberto Carretero defeated Alex Corretja) and the Paris Masters in 2003 (Tim Henman defeated Andrei Pavel).

They are also just the second and third players from outside the ATP's top 20 to reach the Shanghai Masters final since the tournament was introduced in 2009, after Gilles Simon (ranked 29th) in 2014.

At the age of 30 years and 71 days, Rinderknech is the oldest Frenchman to reach a maiden ATP Masters 1000 final, surpassing Ugo Humbert (26 years 124) in Paris last year.