He is injury-prone and from a rich family, I can see him spending 3-4 seasons in the top-100 at best

 

He is injury-prone and from a rich family

I guess that partly explains how he managed to stay on tour up to age 26 without notable results...

 

Big chance this was his biggest title ever

But ranking wise he may be able to have a few top 100 seasons

 

Big chance this was his biggest title ever

No shit.

 

It's ridiculous what the ATP has become nowadays to be honest. Outside of Sinner and Alcaraz, you have a guy who's been having back pains and average results all year and is still at the third spot by a very comfortable margin.

The fourth spot belongs to a guy who lost in the first and third rounds of two slams this year and won two 250s. Spot #5 belongs to someone playing half the tournaments and twice as old as everyone else, and somehow still winning. 6-10 are role players, with the possible exception of Shelton.

Musetti hasn't won a title in three years, de Minaur isn't good enough to win big titles because even the peak level of a guy like Rinderknech is higher than the peak of de Minaur. Khachanov and Ruud's time is done. Rune needs significant improvement to get to his potential, Draper is made of glass, Felix plays well on one surface, Medvedev had horrible results the entire year and is still in the top 20...

 

Carretero went 3-24 the next 12 months after winning Hamburg 96, I do think Vacherot can capitalize better than this

 

The stronger era w/ more competition even if two main players were the dominant ones though not over all surfaces?

My take is that when Shelton, Draper along w/ some post Millennials step up to the plate next year, this one 'hit' wonder's stock goes down.

Speaking of Big Ben, u still haven't answered my question from the Shelton-Technical Discussion thread whether it's time for a coaching change/shift & by that i'm referring to not replacing father Brian but putting him in a more subordinate role.

 

Jack Sock won Paris and that's pretty much all he did (in singles).

 

Sock was well inside the Top 50 when he won the Paris Indoors. He also won 3 other titles in his career and reached at least 3R at all the Slams.

Sock is a much closer analogy to Chris Woodruff winning Montreal in 1997 than to Carretero/Vacherot.

 

Honestly, i find it likely that Vacherot will not even win another title for the rest of his career.

 

This

 

Carretero won the Hamburg Masters (known at that time as Super Nine) in May 1996 at age 21 with a ranking of #140, and was then basically never heard from again.

Carretero had a fairly easy draw most of the way, but he defeated Top 10 opponents Kafelnifov in the SF and then Corretja in 4 sets in the final.

Corretja was ranked 66th at the time, with previous career high of #21.

 

sorry, this was before Corretja's rise into the Top 10, i should have specified.

 

Turning 27 next month, and never having achieved a top 100 ranking until this week raises red flags about his ability to even sustain top 30-50 form, let alone go any higher.

I see from history, he's had quite a few injuries, but a player with a lot of latent, unfulfilled potential would at least have been able to show something over the last 5 years. A surprise result here and there against a much higher ranked opponent.

Pre-Shanghai, he had two top 50 wins and four top 100 wins.

It's pointing towards more of a Cinderella run and not something that can be sustained at this point.

 

Pre-Shanghai, he had two top 50 wins and four top 100 wins.

that's actually two more Top 50 wins than i would have expected him to have.

where would Vacherot even have had the opportunity to face Top 50 players, let alone beat them? He only has one career GS maindraw appearance.

 

He’s got 12 months to capitalise on this victory with his ranking points and seeding.
Chances are he’ll never get a run like this again, but with direct entry into the regular tournaments he can add a few more points and prize money.
Might have a few years as a tour level player now.

 

That's probably the most, or only, interesting part - Carretero was the sole big title winner during my time following tennis that I'd legit never heard of (and I remember Chris Lewis reaching Wimb final in '83) so here we have history repeating itself.

 

and I remember Chris Lewis reaching Wimb final in '83

Kevin Curren in the SF one of the worst chokes in the Open era

Curren vs McEnroe could have been a legendary Wimbledon final.

 

Vacherot may not win tournaments ever again at the ATP level, perhaps not even a 250, but I think we will see a new level from him, compared to where he used to be. Winning as many matches as he won in a row would not have been possible if he truly belonged at the Challenger level.

 

Norrie, Shelton, Coric or Popyrin all won Grand Slams after they won their first 1000 title.
Vacherot to follow soon.

 

Probably

 

I beg to differ.

Even when he was healthy, he was hitting barriers when he faced the top players & for a guy as athletic for his size as he is combined w/ that serve, coming into his prime now, he should b more competitive vs the elite.

No time for complacency anymore but for a disciplinarian w/ effective strategies like a Vajda or he will continue to reach below his potential & the up & coming younger guns will eventually surpass him.