Vacherot Stuns Jodar in Basel Tiebreak Thriller to Reach Quarter-Finals

Valentin Vacherot produced the biggest upset of the week so far in Basel on Thursday, beating Rafael Jodar 7-6 (4), 2-6, 7-6 (5) in a tense second-round battle at the Swiss Indoors that lasted two and a half hours. The result is a serious blow to Jodar's hopes of reaching the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin, where he had been sitting in the provisional final qualifying place, and it opens the door for rivals including Alex de Minaur, Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz with the Paris Masters still to come. Vacherot, who reached a career-high ranking of No. 14 earlier this month, had opened his Basel campaign with a straight-sets win over Mariano Navone, but this was a far sterner test. He edged a tight first-set tiebreak, was overpowered in the second as Jodar levelled the match, then held his nerve in a deciding tiebreak to close out the win — remarkably, despite winning five fewer points overall than his opponent across the match. The victory continues a strong late-season run for the Monegasque, who arrived in Basel looking to rebuild after an early exit in Shanghai, where he had been defending the title he won as a qualifier ranked No. 204 last year. His reward is a Friday quarter-final against Holger Rune, who reached the last eight on Wednesday after saving a match point against Hubert Hurkacz.