Sports · Tennis · 4 hrs ago
Vacherot beats Fritz to reach Basel final, hurting American’s Turin hopes
Valentin Vacherot beat Taylor Fritz in straight sets in the Swiss Indoors Basel semi-finals on Saturday.
The Monegasque won 7-6(5), 6-3 to reach his first final of 2026 and become the first player from Monaco to reach the Basel title match.
Fritz’s defeat leaves him 12th in the race for Turin with 2,885 points, while Alex de Minaur holds ninth place with 3,210.
Because Jannik Sinner will miss the ATP Finals through injury, the player who finishes ninth can take the remaining place in the round-robin event.
Fritz is 325 points behind de Minaur, and other players, including Novak Djokovic and Rafael Jodar, are also chasing qualification.
A strong run at next week’s Paris Masters could help Fritz close the gap, but he also needs rivals to lose early.
Vacherot will face Jiri Lehecka in Sunday’s Basel final.
Valentin Vacherot beat sixth seed Taylor Fritz 7-6(5), 6-3 in the Swiss Indoors Basel semi-finals on Saturday.
The win sent Vacherot, who represents Monaco, into his first final of 2026 and made him the first Monegasque to reach the tournament’s championship match.
Vacherot came back from a 1/4 deficit in the first-set tie-break and broke Fritz at 4-3 in the second set.
He will face eighth seed Jiri Lehecka in Sunday’s final after Lehecka defeated Jan-Lennard Struff.
Fritz’s defeat left him 12th in the live ATP Race to Turin and dented his chances of qualifying for the ATP Finals.
- Who
- Valentin Vacherot, who represents Monaco, and Taylor Fritz.
- What
- Vacherot beat Fritz 7-6(5), 6-3 to reach the Swiss Indoors Basel final.
- When
- Saturday, October 31, 2026.
- Where
- Swiss Indoors Basel in Basel, Switzerland.
- Why
- Vacherot won the semi-final to advance to the final; a further reason for the match result is not stated.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Vacherot beat Fritz in the semi-final to reach the Swiss Indoors Basel final.
Lehecka defeated Struff in the other semi-final to set up a final against Vacherot.
Vacherot was scheduled to play Lehecka for the trophy.
- Score
- Vacherot beat Fritz 7-6(5), 6-3.
- Match duration
- One hour and 26 minutes.
- First-set tie-break
- Vacherot trailed 1/4, then won six of the next seven points.
- Second-set break
- Vacherot broke Fritz at 4-3.
- Final opponent
- Jiri Lehecka, the eighth seed.
- ATP Race to Turin
- Fritz stood 12th with 2,885 points, according to Tennis365’s report.
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What people are saying
You just have to pray on the returns because Taylor is one of the best servers on Tour
His spots are just amazing. Sometimes you can anticipate it, but you cannot even touch it.
I am just super happy I got that break at 4-3 in the second set.
I don't know what happened there to be honest