OTW Extra Email Archive - October 2025
Notes from the Tour: 500/1 cousins in Shanghai...
Thursday 9th October 2025
Hot and humid conditions have caused carnage on the tours this week…
I’m losing count of the number of player withdrawals and injury retirements on the current Chinese swing. Brutal, sweaty heat has played a big part - at the end of a long, hard season.
With a stack of names falling in the big Masters 1000 events in Shanghai and Wuhan. Opening up the fields for some big-odds outsiders to make their move…
And on the ATP Tour, the men’s Rolex Shanghai Masters field has been blown wide open…
500/1 cousins…
At world no.204, Valentin Vacherot becomes the second-lowest-ranked man to ever reach a Masters semi final. Monaco’s no.1 player, Valentin first appeared in this column last February (‘Prince of Monaco’ - read more here).
The 26-year-old Monegasque (great word) has come through the qualifying rounds in Shanghai, reeling off a seven-match winning streak.
Vacherot was 500/1 with Bet365 at the start of the tournament. As was his cousin, world no.54, Arthur Rinderknech…
The 30-year-old Frenchman has been playing good tennis this season; this fortnight in China, he’s been playing sensational stuff…
In the 3rd round, Rinderknech came from a set down to beat world no.3, Alexander Zverev. Having started Shanghai at 500/1 for the trophy, Arthur now has a chance to reach an ATP 1000 semi final for the first time.
Rinderknech plays Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarter finals on Friday
Next up for Vacherot, a semi final against a legend of the sport, Novak Djokovic. The upset is 5/1
Valentin and Arthur are both seeking what would be a career-first ATP title.
Find out more about these tennis-playing cousins in this article on the official ATP Tour website:
In case you’re wondering… Vacherot and Rinderknech are on opposite sides of the Shanghai drawsheet. Meaning that - on paper - they could yet meet in Sunday’s final. Stranger things have happened…
Coming up…
While I can’t lay claim to having backed those guys at 500/1. I will be continuing the big-odds quest next week, with no fewer than five tournaments on the schedule…
Including indoor hard-court events in Brussels and Stockholm, which are likely to get the bulk of my attention. Play starts from Monday…
Enjoy the tennis…
Best wishes,
Oliver Upstone