Valentin Vacherot beat his cousin Arthur Rinderkneich again after winning in Shanghai

Valentin Vacherot said he finds it easier to play against opponents he doesn’t know well after beating his cousin Arthur Rinderkneich for the second time in three weeks at the Paris Masters.

Monaco’s Vacherot overcame a slow start to win 6-7 (9-11), 6-3, 6-4 and set up a third-round match with British second seed Cameron Norrie.

The 26-year-old pulled off an upset win over Rinderknesh in the Shanghai Masters final earlier this month, becoming the lowest-ranked ATP Masters 1000 champion since the series began in 1990 (world no. 204).

“I felt more nervous than I did yesterday,” said Vacherot, who had not faced his cousin in a professional match before Shanghai.

“Was it because Arthur was on the other side of the net? Maybe. Anyway, matches against players I know less are probably easier to handle.”

Vacherot defeated Alexander Bublik, Holger Röhn and Novak Djokovic to reach the final in China, where he beat his cousin 4-6, 6-3, 6-3 to win the ATP title for the first time in his career and a prize money of 824,000 pounds sterling.

After rising to 40th in the world rankings, Vacherot easily defeated Jiri Lehka, ranked 14th in the world, 6-1, 6-3, on Tuesday, setting up another encounter with Renderknic, ranked 29th in the world.

“The first set was not easy for any of us,” Vacherot said. “We were very nervous and I think it showed.”

He added, “After that first set, I felt better and the pressure lessened a little. In general, I am happy with the way I served and the pressure I was able to exert in the return matches.”

“It was different from what happened in Shanghai,” Rinderkneich said. “The game was completely different.

“There wasn’t much missing, actually, in terms of offense and the winner. He deserved his win.”

After writing “Grandma and Grandpa would be proud” on the courtside camera in Shanghai, Vacherot wrote “I love my family” on the camera in Paris.

He will now face Nouri, who came from behind to defeat world number one Carlos Alcaraz 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 on Tuesday.

Meanwhile, defending champion Alexander Zverev defeated Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli 6-7 (5-7), 6-1, 7-5 to reach the third round, but Norwegian Casper Ruud, seeded eighth, lost his opening match to German Daniel Altmaier, seeded 50, 6-3, 7-5.

Russian Daniil Medvedev, former world number one, qualified for the third round after Grigor Dimitrov withdrew due to a shoulder injury, while Felix Auger-Aliassime defeated Alexander Muller 5-7, 7-6 (7-5), 7-6 (7-4).