ROLEX MONTE-CARLO MASTERS

April 11, 2026

Valentin Vacherot

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/V. Vacherot

6-4, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: Questions in French.

Q. We can see a big smile on your face. It was an incredible week and semi against the No. 1. It was a beautiful match.

VALENTIN VACHEROT: Yes, it was a great tournament. I will have those memories for the rest of my life. Although I had Alcaraz on the other side of the net, I'm happy that I came out of the match with some frustration, because it shows that I want to do even better. I want to bother him even more.

But for a first time, I believe it was a good battle already.

Q. Finally, the stadium was full. It must have been pleasant to be here at this time of the day for once.

VALENTIN VACHEROT: Yes, finally I got to play in the sunshine. It's good for dopamine. It was cool. The conditions were much more lively. It was better for the serve, for the game. Finally, the balls were bouncing. We could hit harder, so it was a great moment. I really enjoyed it.

Q. We felt you were in your right place. You tried everything you could. Would you want to try something else next time?

VALENTIN VACHEROT: Well, we can't really say he's unpredictable, but I must say during the past two years he has improved a lot his serve, and sometimes we feel we return correctly, and he sends the ball back very hard. Congratulations to him.

I didn't miss very many returns in the first set, but if you just put the ball in the court, it's not enough. He sends you on the other side of the court. He hits early and very hard.

I'm happy of what I did on my own serve. I was able to break back in the second set, and I am a bit frustrated, because I had an opportunity. I would have liked to have succeeded doing that forehand at Love-15, and I was up 40-15 at one stage. I would have liked to have won that game and maybe win the second set.

Q. Is it important for you to confirm your improvements? It was important for you in this tournament to show that you had improved.

VALENTIN VACHEROT: Well, confirmation-wise, I don't have much to prove anymore. I'm there, I'm in my right place. Of course in the beginning of this week, I didn't picture myself in the semifinals at the end of the week.

The only thing I wanted was to play the big players on my own courts and go and bother them and try to do something. It was tough for my first round, and after playing Musetti, I believe that was the moment when I felt I could do something really good.

Q. Did the incident at 4-All disturb you?

VALENTIN VACHEROT: No, it didn't destabilize me at all. I don't believe I lost the game because of that. Of course, after that, I just played my first double fault of the match. I'm happy I won that particular point, because I'm sure the shot was good.

But after, there was a backhand just out, and then he played a good passing. Suddenly, I was broken, and I was down 5-4. It was very close. I could have broken him at 5-4 maybe, but that's the way it is.

Q. You're saying you're in your right place, and there are many things you can achieve in the following weeks, too. How do you see the next tournaments? You're going to be top 17 after this tournament.

VALENTIN VACHEROT: I don't want to talk about rankings. I didn't want to talk about top 20 in the first place. So for the time being, I'm going to stay as I am, do the same things, but I'm happy that the clay court season is only starting, because I have to play those beautiful tournaments to come up to the way to the French Open in one month and a half.

Q. About your daily routine, is your life the same as a year ago with a different ranking? Or this new ranking, does it create new obligations, or did your life change in terms of workload?

VALENTIN VACHEROT: No, it's the quality of work that is changing, not the quantity. I even have more eagerness than ever to do well. I'm playing the best players in the world, so physically I want to do even more. I want to recoup even better. I want to find new things, try to have fun during practice. This is important. You need to smile when you are practicing, try new things.

But what is new is the tournaments I will be playing, because Madrid and Rome I played only once, and I was playing the quallies, and now I will be in the main draw. So it's going to be fantastic moments. So this is why I'm so happy to go practicing every day, because I'm going to play the most beautiful tournaments in the world.

Q. What did you say to Carlos at the net after the match?

VALENTIN VACHEROT: He told me that I had done a good tournament, and I wished him good luck for tomorrow and congratulations for everything he's achieving. It was great for me to play against him for the first time in the semifinal here in this tournament.