Valentin Vacherot: “She just never complains about how much time I’m training and everything”

Monte-Carlo—When Valentin Vacherot stunned the tennis world by capturing the 2025 Shanghai Masters title from a ranking of No. 204, headlines focused on his three-set win over cousin Arthur Rinderknech and a trail of higher-ranked casualties that included Novak Djokovic. Yet the 27-year-old Monegasque is quick to point out that the most decisive assist of the fortnight came from someone who never struck a ball: his girlfriend, Emily Snyder.

“Tennis takes 90 per cent of our time in the year,” Vacherot told ATPTour.com during this week’s Monte-Carlo Masters. “If you want to be good you’ve got to live tennis, wake up tennis, eat tennis. Your partner has got to deal with that—and be okay with that. Luckily for me, my girlfriend is amazing with that. She just never complains about how much time I’m training and everything.”

The couple’s story began in Monaco while Vacherot was nursing a stress-fracture in his foot and Snyder, a University of North Carolina student on a Barcelona study-abroad programme, was visiting the Principality for a week with friends. An evening meeting turned into daily messages across time zones; eventually Snyder transferred to the International University of Monaco so the pair could be based in the same city.

Since then she has become, in Vacherot’s words, “a crucial part of the team,” handling everything from social-media strategy—Snyder’s degree is in the field—to arranging the rare off-day excursions that keep life from revolving entirely around rankings and practice courts. “In Acapulco we went golfing; she’s a bit better than me, I’m really bad, but we laughed a lot,” he said, adding that even a quiet dinner alone during tournament weeks “feels like home.”

The arrangement has already paid competitive dividends. Vacherot’s Shanghai run vaulted him to a career-high No. 23 and secured direct entry into Masters events he once watched from the sidelines. With little ranking pressure in the months ahead, the new top-30 regular believes the stability Snyder provides will be essential to staying there.

“After most of my matches I just thank her for supporting me,” he said. “It’s the easiest thing I can do.”

As he prepares to face last year’s Monte-Carlo finalist Lorenzo Musetti on home clay, Vacherot will again have Snyder in the player-guest box—proof that behind every unlikely Masters champion is an even more unlikely support system, built on patience, understanding and the occasional round of golf.