Shanghai Masters finalist caused Wimbledon havoc and speaks out on family rival

Tennis ace Arthur Rinderknech had already captured attention before his family showdown at the Shanghai Masters final, following a controversial moment at Wimbledon. The 30-year-old Frenchman became the talk of the sport this week alongside cousin Valentin Vacherot, as the pair battled each other in Sunday morning's ATP 1000 event finale.

It was Vacherot that came out on top in a three-set thriller to capture the first ATP Tour title of his career. Despite Rinderknech's defeat, he is set to climb to a career-best ranking of at least 37 following his impressive Chinese campaign while Vacherot is set to rise into the top 40 players in the world.

Rinderknech has banked more than £3.7million throughout his time on court but silverware has remained elusive. His best Grand Slam performance saw him reach the fourth round, though he sparked controversy after losing to Taylor Fritz in the second round at SW19 last year.

Rinderknech took the typically calm American to four sets, but it was Fritz's post-match conduct at the net that left spectators puzzled. The 27-year-old launched into trash talk after securing victory, telling his rival to "have a nice flight home" before adding: "You know what you did."

Just one day before their All England Club encounter, Rinderknech had claimed Fritz "cried" and "whined" during their 2023 Roland Garros meeting, which the world No. 4 won in four sets.

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Speaking to the Tennis Channel, Fritz explained what prompted his unusual behaviour towards Rinderknech. "I'm just a really chill guy," the California-born Fritz said. "I don't have issues with anybody, so it's pretty surprising when I'm seeing like, getting tagged in all this stuff.

"Like, just randomly, he starts taking some jabs at me before the match. So, if you do that, like, I don't know. Don't expect me to be nice after the match."

Fritz was asked how he was feeling during the Wimbledon battle to which he answered: "I've never lost a match where someone's upset me during the match or before the match, ever. So, I think the results should speak for itself. I feel like that extra motivation always helps me play better."

Rinderknech returned to headlines this week following a glittering run in Shanghai where he eliminated the likes of Alexander Zverev, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Daniil Medvedev to set up the final showdown with his cousin.

After his semi-final victory over the Russian ace, he was joined on court by Vacherot who already booked his spot in the final after defeating Novak Djokovic.

Rinderknech said: "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. 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." Vacherot's unlikely journey to his first ATP 1000 final saw him become the lowest-ranked player to reach an ATP Masters 1000 final - and win - having entered the event as the world No. 204 and a qualifier.

After his semi-final victory over Djokovic, the 26-year-old expressed: "This is just crazy... just to be on the other side of the court (with Djokovic) was an unbelievable experience.

"I got a bit lost in all his titles when they were announcing him, but it was an unreal experience. Now I'm probably just going to enjoy the win tonight and think about the final tomorrow."