Djokovic battles into Shanghai semis as Vacherot's fairytale run continues

VIDEO SHOWS: HIGHLIGHTS FROM ATP SHANGHAI MASTERS QUARTER-FINAL ACTION – NOVAK DJOKOVIC WINS, HOLGER RUNE DEFEATED BY VALENTIN VACHEROT / SOUNDBITES OF DJOKOVIC AND VACHEROT RESENDING WITH COMPLETE SCRIPT SHOWS: SHANGHAI, CHINA (OCTOBER 9, 2025) (ATP MEDIA/ IMG – See restrictions) NOVAK DJOKOVIC (RED SHIRT) V ZIZOU BERGS 1. NOVAK DJOKOVIC WALKING IN FIRST SET 2. DJOKOVIC HITS FOREHAND WINNER 3. DJOKOVIC TAKES SET WITH A WIDE SERVE AND WALKING BACK 4. CROWD CHEERING / DJOKOVIC'S TEAM CHEERING SECOND SET 5. DJOKOVIC BREAKS AND CELEBRATES AS ZIZOU BERGS  NETS BACKHAND VOLLEY 6. BERGS HITS BACKHAND RETURN WINNER / BERGS TEAM APPLAUDING 7. DJOKOVIC WINS LONG RALLY AND CELEBRATES 8. DJOKOVIC WINS MATCH AS BERGS' FOREHAND GOES LONG 9. DJOKOVIC WALKING BACK 10. PLAYERS EMBRACE AT NET / SHAKE HANDS WITH UMPIRE 11. DJOKOVIC WAVING TO CROWD 12. (SOUNDBITE) (ENGLISH) NOVAK DJOKOVIC WHEN ASKED WHAT IT TOOK PHYSICALLY AND MENTALLY TO WIN, SAYING: "Pretty much everything. Just trying to stay alive, to be honest, on the court. First encounter with Bergs, great guy. Obviously, a lot of firepower in his game. At times, I just try to play an extra ball in the court and make him, you know, make him miss the ball. That's what happened. You know, I should have closed out the match at 5-4. He played a good game. Again, I was a little bit too passive. Just very challenging conditions these days, these few weeks for all the players. You know, you're just trying to stay alive on the court and glad to overcome this hurdle." HOLGER RUNE (PALE GREEN SLEEVELESS SHIRT) V VALENTIN VACHEROT FIRST SET 13. HOLGER RUNE HITS FOREHAND WINNER AND CELEBRATES 14. RUNE TAKES SET AS VALENTIN VACHEROT'S FOREHAND GOES LONG 15. RUNE CELEBRATING / RUNE'S TEAM CHEERING SECOND SET 16. VACHEROT HITS BACKHAND WINNER AND CELEBRATES TIE-BREAKER 17. VACHEROT HITS FOREHAND WINNER AND CELEBRATES TAKING SET 18. RUNE, VACHEROT REACTIONS 19. VACHEROT'S TEAM APPLAUDING THIRD SET 19. FOREHAND WINNER BY VACHEROT 20. PHYSIO ATTENDS TO RUNE DURING MEDICAL TIMEOUT 21. RUNE LOSES BALANCE AFTER HITTING FOREHAND AND FALLS FLAT ON THE COURT 22. RUNE CELEBRATES AFTER HITTING A DROPSHOT WINNER TO DENY VACHEROT MATCHPOINT 23. VACHEROT WINS MATCH AS RUNE NETS RETURN  24. VACHEROT DOWN ON HIS KNEES IN EMOTIONAL CELEBRATION  25. PLAYERS SHAKE HANDS 26. (SOUNDBITE) (English) WORLD NUMBER 204, VALENTIN VACHEROT ON HIS FAIRYTALE RUN AND BREAKING INTO TOP 100 IN ATP RANKINGS, SAYING: "No, this is just, I don't know what to say. This is just unbelievable. I mean, the last win meant already so much to me. This one means even more. I mean, there's the win. It was tough to not think about it on the match point. There's also the top 100 breaking. I know this is just a step, but I tried to not look at the ranking this whole tournament, but unfortunately for this one, a few media or anything, I read it on a few media that if I won, I would be breaking the top 100. But yeah, I mean, this is just unbelievable for me." 27. VACHEROT TEAM CELEBRATING 28. VARIOUS OF VACHEROT CELEBRATING 29. VACHEROT'S GIRLFRIEND EMILY SNYDER REACTS STORY: Fourth seed Novak Djokovic battled past a spirited Zizou Bergs 6-3 7-5 on Thursday (October 9) to reach the Shanghai Masters semi-finals for a 10th time, setting up a clash with surprise package and world number 204 Valentin Vacherot. In challenging conditions, Djokovic was made to work harder than the scoreline suggests by his Belgian opponent, who actually registered more winners than the four-times champion but was undone by unforced errors. In the opening set, Bergs showed remarkable resilience by saving five set points to frustrate Djokovic, before the Serbian finally closed it out with an unreturned serve. The second set proved even more gruelling, with both players serving well but treating the crowd to breathtaking rallies that left Djokovic hunched over his racquet on several occasions. The highlight came during one extraordinary rally where Djokovic gave Bergs five golden opportunities to seal the point with overhead shots and volleys at the net, only to somehow emerge victorious and bring the crowd to its feet. Djokovic eventually sealed victory on his third match point, advancing to face Vacherot in what promises to be an intriguing semi-final clash. Vacherot pulled off a huge upset, stunning 10th seed Holger Rune 2-6 7-6(4) 6-4 to become the second-lowest ranked player ever to reach an ATP Masters semi-final. The Monegasque qualifier's remarkable run will see him crack the top 100 next week after spending half of last year sidelined with injury, but even playing in Shanghai was a question mark when he arrived. Vacherot's stunning journey in Shanghai, which now includes wins over four seeds, looked doomed early on as Rune raced through a physically demanding opening set while the underdog felt his "lungs were screaming". But the tide turned dramatically in the second-set tiebreak when Vacherot produced a stunning backhand crosscourt winner to take a 5-4 lead. Rune crashed his next shot into the net and could only watch as Vacherot fired a forehand winner down the line on set point to level the match. Rune struggled physically in the decider, requiring the trainer twice to massage his leg. Vacherot then capitalised to complete a memorable victory in a contest lasting a minute shy of three hours. Vacherot's cousin Arthur Rinderknech is also in the quarter-finals, with the Frenchman set to play Felix Auger-Aliassime on Friday. (Production: Bhagya Ayyavoo)

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