Vacherot Stuns Fritz to Reach First Basel Final of 2026

Valentin Vacherot made more history for Monaco on Saturday, beating sixth-seeded Taylor Fritz 7-6(5), 6-3 to reach the Swiss Indoors final in Basel. The unseeded Monegasque, who won the Shanghai Masters last year in his only previous tour final, is the first man from his country to reach the Basel final, and he will play Jiri Lehecka for the title on Sunday after the Czech beat Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6, 7-5, 6-4 in the other semi-final. Vacherot rallied from 4-1 down in the first-set tiebreak, won 40 of his 51 first-serve points and fired 10 aces in an 86-minute victory. He broke for 5-3 in the second set and closed out the match on his third match point, winning all 11 points he played at the net. It was his sixth career win over a top-20 opponent, and it avenged a first-round loss to Fritz in Basel last year to level their head-to-head at one apiece. For Fritz, the defeat is a serious blow to his hopes of qualifying for the ATP Finals in Turin, with only the Paris Masters remaining in the race. Vacherot's run in Basel has included wins over Mariano Navone, Rafael Jodar, Holger Rune and now Fritz, and he will arrive in Sunday's final full of confidence after such a convincing week.