Valentin Vacherot made his debut at the Montreal Masters 1000 on Wednesday afternoon, facing Argentina’s Mariano Navone in the second round. The Monégasque, seeded 14th at the tournament, started strongly by taking the opening set, before Navone fought back to claim the next two and the match, 1-6, 6-3, 6-3.
Despite the result, the statistics painted a fairly even picture. Vacherot outpaced Navone on aces, firing down seven to his opponent’s two, and edged him slightly on first-serve points won. But it was Navone who proved sharper in the moments that mattered, converting four of his seven break-point opportunities compared to Vacherot’s three, ultimately tipping the contest in his favour after the opening set.
The defeat was a slightly surprising one given the pair’s history. Vacherot had won their only previous meeting, in straight sets at the Miami Masters back in March, and arrived in Montreal with a considerably stronger overall hard-court record, having won 64 percent of his career matches on the surface compared to Navone’s 33 percent. It continues a mixed run of form for the Monégasque since his career-high ranking of world No. 16 in May, following an early exit at Kitzbühel just weeks earlier.
Vacherot will get a chance to bounce back in doubles, teaming up with his cousin Arthur Rinderknech to face the pairing of Darderi and Tabilo on Thursday. In singles, he next turns his attention to the Cincinnati Masters, running August 15-23, his final tune-up before the US Open, which takes place from August 30 to September 13, a tournament where he reached the second round last year.
Image courtesy of Direction de la Communication