Speaker 1: Hi everyone, and welcome to another episode of the Sitdown.
Speaker 1: I'm Mattrolope, a rata an editor for oz open dot
Speaker 1: Com and.
Speaker 2: I'm viv Christian, managing editor for Australian Tennis Magazine. And Matt,
Speaker 2: why are we sitting down this week with Bellenton Vashero.
Speaker 1: Well, he was a player obviously that came onto our
Speaker 1: radar late last year at the Shanghai Masters in probably
Speaker 1: what was one of the craziest tennis stories that either
Speaker 1: of us can remember, probably in the sports history. He
Speaker 1: was a qualifier ranked outside the top two hundred, who
Speaker 1: made the main draw and then beat a slew of
Speaker 1: top players, including Novak Djokovic in the semifinals, to arrive
Speaker 1: in a Masters final. And it got even crazier because
Speaker 1: there in the final he met his cousin Arthur Rinderkanesh
Speaker 1: and beat him to become a Masters champion and then
Speaker 1: suddenly was a top forty star. And when we met
Speaker 1: him in Melbourne at the Australian Open, he was a
Speaker 1: seated player at a Grand Slam for a first time.
Speaker 1: So it was we had to find out his story.
Speaker 2: And what an incredible tennis fairytale that was. And there's
Speaker 2: so many unlike likely parts to his tennis story. He
Speaker 2: comes from a very connected tennis family. He's one of
Speaker 2: the few players that we know from Monico. And speaking
Speaker 2: of Monico, the Monte Carlo Masters starts this week and
Speaker 2: Valentine revealed something very interesting about that tournament and what
Speaker 2: it means to him. Valentine Measurer, thank you for joining
Speaker 2: us on the sit down here at pod laver Arena.
Speaker 2: Is this your first podcast?
Speaker 3: No, no, no, no, We wanted it to be good trovers,
Speaker 3: not a few.
Speaker 2: You arrive at Australian Open twenty twenty six in a
Speaker 2: very different position than you were at the same time
Speaker 2: last year you were you lost in the second round
Speaker 2: of qualifying and now you're a seated player.
Speaker 3: Must feel very different for you, of course, none of
Speaker 3: those for sure. This was my first time here, less.
Speaker 4: Year in the quarters and the I mean, even if
Speaker 4: though he was in a qualities, I had a lot
Speaker 4: of fun because it's already really good to be in a qualities.
Speaker 4: And yeah, I mean if someone had told me a
Speaker 4: year later I would be back seeded, probably wouldn't have
Speaker 4: believed it. But now I'm here and fully focus on
Speaker 4: my new my new challenges, and everything.
Speaker 2: We know that your tennis career changed a lot last
Speaker 2: year after you won a election shanhaig Masters, but what
Speaker 2: changed for you personally after that?
Speaker 3: Well, personally not much for me. I mean training the
Speaker 3: same and everything.
Speaker 4: So of course I had over preseason a little bit
Speaker 4: more stuff to do around the around tennis, but focuses
Speaker 4: tennis is Tennis is number one. It's if I have
Speaker 4: time around tennis, then I can put some some just
Speaker 4: the little things of outside that. Now it's I have
Speaker 4: a bit more stuff to do, especially in Monaco. It's
Speaker 4: as countries, so everyone knew that I was going to
Speaker 4: be here for six seven weeks training, so.
Speaker 3: I had a lot of places to go. But it
Speaker 3: was fun. It's part of the Journey's part of the
Speaker 3: new life.
Speaker 1: We often ask I guess kind of what their goals are,
Speaker 1: and I just wonder, in your case, maybe prior to
Speaker 1: Shanghai or in twenty twenty five, maybe your goals were
Speaker 1: different to what they might be now when you're starting
Speaker 1: the twenty twenty six season. So is that true? Have
Speaker 1: your goals changed at all? And what are they at
Speaker 1: this point in your career?
Speaker 4: I mean, of course, I mean when I was ranked
Speaker 4: in Changay two hundred. My goal wasn't I was not
Speaker 4: saying to myself to be top ten or something. It
Speaker 4: was more to be top hundred first, And I mean
Speaker 4: to be honest. When I started chang Gay two four,
Speaker 4: it was already the end of September. Still my goal
Speaker 4: was still to try to be top hundred, and I
Speaker 4: knew I had to win three or four challengers for that.
Speaker 4: Well did it, did it another way, but I don't
Speaker 4: mind it. It's more than okay, And now, of course
Speaker 4: it's way different goals that I put myself. It's not
Speaker 4: about the ranking or anything. It's more yeah, like a
Speaker 4: goal for Grand Slam, go go get a second week
Speaker 4: this year. If I can do it here already, then
Speaker 4: that will allow me to put new goals after.
Speaker 3: Goals, like.
Speaker 4: Just give even though before it was the same give
Speaker 4: one hundred percent, but I feel like even more now.
Speaker 4: Just try to give like one hundred and ten percent.
Speaker 4: Every match is to get as many win as possible
Speaker 4: throughout the season, because sometimes you might play good and
Speaker 4: lose because everyone is even better.
Speaker 3: Now at the level I'm at.
Speaker 4: So it was more about like the mental part, like
Speaker 4: to be one hundred percent, focus mentally on every single
Speaker 4: of the matches, and then the ranking will follow or not,
Speaker 4: and this will see and then of course try to go. Yeah,
Speaker 4: another big one is to try to go get another title. Whatever,
Speaker 4: if it's an AHP to fifty five hundred, I don't care,
Speaker 4: just get another one.
Speaker 1: But yeah, yeah, how on that. You are playing a
Speaker 1: different kind of caliber or category of opponent now, and
Speaker 1: just everything about your career trajectory has changed. The tournament
Speaker 1: you can enter has changed. Your direct entry here in
Speaker 1: your seed, your schedule probably changes now because your ranking
Speaker 1: puts you in a different place. So adjusting to that
Speaker 1: change in these opportunities for you. And yeah, this high
Speaker 1: level of opponent you play week in week, how has
Speaker 1: that been to adjust to since October?
Speaker 4: Well, I think, I mean after Shanghai, I just did
Speaker 4: pretty well. Also, in which is good is that I
Speaker 4: had the chances to play in Basil in Paris they
Speaker 4: allowed me to play, giving me wild cards because the
Speaker 4: least were already out after Shanghai, but they allowed me
Speaker 4: to play. I gave a good fight in Shanghai. In
Speaker 4: Basil against Fritz, lost three dy clause and then won
Speaker 4: three more matches in Paris made it to a quarterfinal,
Speaker 4: and I think that helped, just putting the let's say
Speaker 4: the base in my head because of course, hi, yeah
Speaker 4: I did it. I won the Tournament's it's amazing, but
Speaker 4: some can say, okay, it was like a fairy tale week.
Speaker 4: It was just everything was going my way. But just
Speaker 4: to do it again, play good matches also in two
Speaker 4: other places afterward helped me can be like, Okay, now
Speaker 4: this is my level. I've done it for a few
Speaker 4: tournaments and gave me even more confidence going to this
Speaker 4: year because you can show some people are like, okay,
Speaker 4: is it going to hold up? Is he going to
Speaker 4: hold up this year as well? And everything? And me
Speaker 4: I think, I mean, I gave myself the answer is
Speaker 4: already and now it's just yeah about playing all those
Speaker 4: matches one hundred and in person and then we'll do
Speaker 4: the count at the at the end of the season.
Speaker 2: Yeah, I'm switching gears a little bit. Tell us about
Speaker 2: your start in tennis.
Speaker 4: Uh, well, my star was really easy. My whole family
Speaker 4: plays tennis, so basically born basically born with a racket.
Speaker 4: So now, yeah, I was just you know, I think
Speaker 4: whenever I was what four or five years old, or
Speaker 4: just playing with my.
Speaker 3: With my parents and everything.
Speaker 4: And then lealilu by a little playing my first tournament
Speaker 4: at like what maybe nineteen years old, having a bit
Speaker 4: like more of like a setup practices at eleven twelve
Speaker 4: years old, because I was starting to I was playing
Speaker 4: a little bit decent, and yeah, just then after just
Speaker 4: started to grow a bit and blia and.
Speaker 2: As I understand that that start was in Monte Carlo,
Speaker 2: which also has the Monte Carlo Masters, which is one
Speaker 2: of the most beautiful tournaments in the world. Did that
Speaker 2: inspire you as well?
Speaker 4: Yeah, one hundred percent. It was my favorite week of
Speaker 4: the year. That's all I was waiting for, was for
Speaker 4: the tournament. My coach who's my brother, was playing. Back
Speaker 4: in the day, I was mostly ranked all of his
Speaker 4: carrier around the two hundred, but since Hiss from an
Speaker 4: Aqua as well was getting a world card every year,
Speaker 4: so I was allowing me to watch him play there
Speaker 4: or so, and uh, yeah, that was generally my.
Speaker 3: Favorite week of the year. I was waiting for that.
Speaker 4: I was praying that it was going to be during
Speaker 4: vacation so I didn't have any problem to go from
Speaker 4: nine am to to seven pm on site. And watch
Speaker 4: every single match as possible, catch every autograph possible, and
Speaker 4: and yeah, of course that's why it's weird. But I
Speaker 4: rather win Motecalo than a Grand Slam if I could,
Speaker 4: to be honest, like it's maybe number one Motekaalo and
Speaker 4: then rather let's say one person under all the Grand Slams.
Speaker 4: But of course I wouldn't mind winning her Grand Slam.
Speaker 4: But yeah, yeah, that just really special is the club
Speaker 4: that I've always been playing tennising.
Speaker 3: So yeah, were there.
Speaker 2: Any particular years or players that you remember saying that?
Speaker 3: Uh, well, I remember two thousand and six really well.
Speaker 4: My my my brother made from qualified to Run of
Speaker 4: sixteen and played the played Roger Federer in the Run
Speaker 4: of sixteen in two thousand and six. That's when Roger
Speaker 4: was basically owning tennis at that moment. And that's why
Speaker 4: that was the age I was seven eight years old.
Speaker 4: So I grew up when like those those years when Roger,
Speaker 4: as I said, was owning tennis.
Speaker 3: So that's why he is my adult for me.
Speaker 4: And Roger gave his headband and raisband to my brother
Speaker 4: and gave it to me. Unfortunately, now, I mean Roger
Speaker 4: asked me in Shanghai. If I knew I was the
Speaker 4: because you remember that story, if I knew it was
Speaker 4: the risband and the headband, and I said, okay, it
Speaker 4: was a few years. A fewears has passed and my
Speaker 4: room has changed a lot, so I don't know where
Speaker 4: it is anymore. Somewhere, Yeah, if I give it a
Speaker 4: good look, I could find it. But well, yeah, so
Speaker 4: there was there was that year of course, then I
Speaker 4: think maybe I think it's maybe the first year tw
Speaker 4: six where I watched Djokovic played when you arrived and
Speaker 4: played you. I think you played for the air first
Speaker 4: round or something like that. That's when you arrived. And
Speaker 4: then all those years watching Rafa, when back to back
Speaker 4: to Baka, starting to oh on the bid the world
Speaker 4: of Tennis on clay, and then no, just not one
Speaker 4: specific here. I mean then of course twenty twenty two,
Speaker 4: sorry to the first time that I got to play,
Speaker 4: I go to work card into the qualifying those very special,
Speaker 4: but then just every time it was just really really
Speaker 4: cool to watch and.
Speaker 1: It looks very beautiful on screening. I think it's on.
Speaker 3: The most beautiful one. Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yes, before you went in Shanghai, you had many years
Speaker 1: obviously on the Challenger circuit and there are inevitable challenges
Speaker 1: in your inner place career and it. Players talk a
Speaker 1: lot about the grind of being on the Challenger circuit.
Speaker 1: How was that experience for you and what did you
Speaker 1: kind of learn about yourself in that time.
Speaker 4: The thing is that, yeah, you can, you can call
Speaker 4: it a grind in Challengers if you But I think
Speaker 4: it's a grind because.
Speaker 3: Everyone is just so good.
Speaker 4: Everyone is really good, and there's not one easy matches
Speaker 4: and Challengers that's why it's so hard and it's so
Speaker 4: hard to just get through. I think the biggest grind
Speaker 4: is before that. It's in it's in futures. If if
Speaker 4: you can just for first of all, get out, get
Speaker 4: out of the ifs as quick as possible, that's that's
Speaker 4: the best. Because this is the real jungle and grind.
Speaker 4: When you get to Challengers, you start to play in
Speaker 4: actually like really nice clubs, really nice tournaments, you get
Speaker 4: the hotel paid for, it's usually in decent cities, and
Speaker 4: so Challengers is tough to call it a grind. I
Speaker 4: think it's more of a grind on the on the
Speaker 4: court because it's really the level is almost as.
Speaker 3: Hard as in the top hundred and so yeah.
Speaker 4: Always good is that I got all of the futures
Speaker 4: is pretty pretty quickly and probably less than a year
Speaker 4: when I started on tour. And yeah, then I played
Speaker 4: Challengers all the time until Shanghai, except when I sticked
Speaker 4: in and a few qualities of ATP to fifties before
Speaker 4: getting hurt, I started to get in qualities of one
Speaker 4: master of one thousand. But yeah, I think Challengers is
Speaker 4: just another level just for the players you play, and
Speaker 4: everyone is just so hungry to get past the challengers
Speaker 4: who go on the big tour that that's what makes
Speaker 4: it really hard.
Speaker 3: Yeah, yeah, that makes sense.
Speaker 1: Another part of your story is that you come through
Speaker 1: the US college system and that's becoming, i think increasingly
Speaker 1: a part why a lot of players have success with
Speaker 1: and the careers are longer now so you don't have
Speaker 1: to go pro as fast. How is the college experience
Speaker 1: for you and do you think it's helped you to
Speaker 1: get where you are now?
Speaker 4: Yeah?
Speaker 3: It was amazing.
Speaker 4: I mean I had a very different path from like
Speaker 4: twelve th twenteen years old. I never were I never
Speaker 4: was homeschooled. I went to normal school all the time.
Speaker 4: I wasn't in a. I had a decent level, but
Speaker 4: more around like sixteen, seventeen and eighteen towards the end
Speaker 4: before it was harder for me. But I think going
Speaker 4: at eighteen was never really an option for me, even
Speaker 4: though I think I had that the descent ranking at eighteen,
Speaker 4: I was already maybe seven hundred and fifty or something.
Speaker 4: I had a few points. But going to college was normal.
Speaker 4: I joined the I joined my cousin that was there,
Speaker 4: Arthur Rendergnink. It was just really easy to make the
Speaker 4: decision because he's already been there for three years. He
Speaker 4: was already getting better. He told me, like how good
Speaker 4: Steve then turned and Kevin Oche the coaches in Texas anymore. So, Yeah,
Speaker 4: it was easy choice for me.
Speaker 2: Okay, As you mentioned earlier, your idol growing up was
Speaker 2: Roger Federer. What was it like meeting him last year.
Speaker 3: In Schinha, Yeah, No, it was. It was super nice.
Speaker 4: It's pretty funny because he was there for like the
Speaker 4: whole second week, I think, And it took me maybe
Speaker 4: it took me four days to cross him, Like you know,
Speaker 4: it took me four days to cross him. I just
Speaker 4: maybe my girlfriends i've seen him crossed him maybe ten
Speaker 4: times before me. I actually crossed him once. That's pretty fun. Know,
Speaker 4: I was getting mad at that, so went finally I
Speaker 4: saw him. It was great, and then we had the
Speaker 4: He stayed for the I think he watched me maybe
Speaker 4: semi final and final, and then stayed for the for
Speaker 4: the celebrations after so and then I got to speak
Speaker 4: a little while with him, and yeah, it was very special,
Speaker 4: of course he was really he was really cooler.
Speaker 2: Now that a little time has passed since you had
Speaker 2: that incredible run in Shanghai, and you know it's called
Speaker 2: a fairy tale, how how do you look back on
Speaker 2: it now?
Speaker 4: I mean sometimes I still pinch myself to see if
Speaker 4: it was a bit real, you know.
Speaker 3: I mean I try to just not.
Speaker 4: Forget all the just all the images that in my
Speaker 4: head that happened over there. It was a little bit,
Speaker 4: let's say, like a little apparentheses in my life.
Speaker 3: I mean, it was just start to even believe sometimes
Speaker 3: that it was real. Uh.
Speaker 4: But I tried to just not also think about it
Speaker 4: all the time and stuff, because it's I'm not saying
Speaker 4: like for my tennis, yes, it was an amazing example
Speaker 4: for how I played, how balald and and everything, but
Speaker 4: also just getting back on earth and just now this
Speaker 4: is my place, this is why I belong and try
Speaker 4: to like gradually keep keep climbing and see where I
Speaker 4: can end up by the end. And but of course
Speaker 4: this probably took the It is probably the Besos two
Speaker 4: weeks are the base of hopefully a second huge part
Speaker 4: of my of.
Speaker 3: My care area.
Speaker 2: You you have achieved so many firsts for Monaco tennis.
Speaker 2: Does does that come with I mean, of course it's
Speaker 2: very proud, it must be very proud. But any pressure
Speaker 2: as well.
Speaker 4: Now zero because uh, pride, yes, of course, Because I
Speaker 4: mean probably people see Monaco as just this little area
Speaker 4: where there's money and everything and it's just about going
Speaker 4: there to go to the beach and play casino. But
Speaker 4: it's such a small country and what they do, what
Speaker 4: we do for sport is amazing. And now we have
Speaker 4: a few athletes at really high level of their sport
Speaker 4: with La Cleric in f one, myself in tennis, and
Speaker 4: we have also others pushing in different sports and that's
Speaker 4: amazing because it's so small. There's only nine ten thousand
Speaker 4: people actually from Monaco, and yeah, there's just full on,
Speaker 4: full on pride and I'm so happy to let's say,
Speaker 4: put Monaco with also romainu Go or to doubles players
Speaker 4: that are also in the top fifty to them. So
Speaker 4: now even three like up there in the rankings and
Speaker 4: we're able to be all here together in tournaments. Now
Speaker 4: it was more about me joining them since they were
Speaker 4: already playing like better tournaments than me in doubles. And yeah,
Speaker 4: and now it's cool because he is really really the
Speaker 4: first woman where our Taviska coach is also here and
Speaker 4: it's generally the whole the whole team here, so it's
Speaker 4: it's it's really cool. And uhid, just more like I
Speaker 4: said this way.
Speaker 1: You alluded to your brother before your tennis family. That
Speaker 1: story was massive playing in the final of Shanghai and
Speaker 1: being your cousin. We also found out that Chloe Pake
Speaker 1: is your cousin, and Benjamin Balaray your coach. Is he
Speaker 1: uncle a cousin?
Speaker 3: What is my brother? And is Arthur's cousin? Yeah, it's
Speaker 3: just Arthur's Arthur's mom and my mom my sisters.
Speaker 1: Right.
Speaker 3: Chloe kloy Is is the daughter of my mom's cousin.
Speaker 1: So she's like a second But this is like a
Speaker 1: tennis dynasty this family is amazing, but not that's not
Speaker 1: common in professional tennis. Certainly, lots of families player, but
Speaker 1: this is amazing.
Speaker 2: Is that?
Speaker 1: What's that been like? To have so many tennis connections
Speaker 1: in your own family?
Speaker 3: It's unique?
Speaker 4: Yeah, it's unique, and it's good because there's also there's
Speaker 4: always going to be someone in your family that's around
Speaker 4: your level, so there's nothing to just be too proud about.
Speaker 5: The leading partners all the time. I guess, yeah, I
Speaker 5: mean to be just too bit too proud. But when
Speaker 5: I was two hundred, my only goal was to just
Speaker 5: try to catch up Arthur, to be with him more
Speaker 5: first of all, and uh, to be just where it
Speaker 5: was because it's been in the top hundred for for
Speaker 5: so long now and now I finally finally did it
Speaker 5: and we're together, so it's really cool. And then all
Speaker 5: of the family to just come and watch us play
Speaker 5: the same place.
Speaker 3: Now, so this you're easy.
Speaker 1: And you're playing doubles together.
Speaker 3: Yes we lost yesterday, but no described but that's still
Speaker 3: cool that you complain, so again, no, no, no, yeah, that's
Speaker 3: the goal.
Speaker 4: And now we're here and we play for fun doubles
Speaker 4: and the only one we want to have fun, and
Speaker 4: we're going to play in a few in a few
Speaker 4: tournaments over the year, but really just to just not
Speaker 4: bother mentally or what we've doubles, just really just to
Speaker 4: have fun and and keep on the competition.
Speaker 3: Let's say, in between singles.
Speaker 2: Must be be really nice for you to be able
Speaker 2: to spend time together at tournaments.
Speaker 4: Yeah, finally, I mean I've been trying to catch him,
Speaker 4: trying to get up with him for so many years.
Speaker 4: He's been putting the bar pretty high for me. But
Speaker 4: finally I'm with him.
Speaker 3: You.
Speaker 1: So, I guess you've been very generous with the time, Valentine.
Speaker 1: We appreciate it. Just to kind of tie it up
Speaker 1: and look ahead to twenty twenty six for you, where
Speaker 1: is your schedule going? Where is your schedule taking you?
Speaker 1: And are there any players now that you're at this
Speaker 1: level in the game you've never faced before that you
Speaker 1: would you'd like to challenge yourself against.
Speaker 4: I think Dan's really easy, Yeah, Nick Ciner Karaz, any
Speaker 4: guys in the top top ten of five, you want
Speaker 4: to play them just to see how it is and
Speaker 4: to see how you are where your game is at
Speaker 4: that moment, just to compare yourself a bit to them
Speaker 4: and see what you can do better, what you're doing good,
Speaker 4: what's working, what's not working against the best of the sport.
Speaker 4: I had a chance to play or Kovich in Shanghai,
Speaker 4: Tito Fritz in Basel, Felix in Paris. I already played
Speaker 4: a few, but I mean, we can say that Yannick
Speaker 4: and Carlos are a little bit in a different league
Speaker 4: right now, or it will be really cool anytime soon
Speaker 4: if I can play one of them amazing.
Speaker 2: Well, we hope to see that as well. Thank you
Speaker 2: so much for joining us on the sitdown and good luck.
Speaker 3: Thank you very much. Thank you.
Speaker 1: Great to catch up with Valentine during the Australian Open,
Speaker 1: where he went on to make the third round, and
Speaker 1: ever since leaving Melbourne he's continued his upward trajectory. Recently
Speaker 1: he made the second week of the Miami Masters and
Speaker 1: he's risen to a career high ranking of twenty three.
Speaker 1: So now he's knocking on the door of the top twenty,
Speaker 1: which is just amazing considering where he was just a
Speaker 1: few months ago before that Shanghai breakthrough.
Speaker 2: Yeah, the fairy tale continues for Valentine and just goes
Speaker 2: to show what one big result can do for a
Speaker 2: tennis players.
Speaker 1: Career, absolutely and will be very interested to see what
Speaker 1: he manages to do in Monte Carlo this week.
Speaker 2: We'll be back next week with another episode of The
Speaker 2: sit Down. Please remember to subscribe so you never miss
Speaker 2: an episode, and we'd love you to leave us a
Speaker 2: rating and review.
Speaker 1: See you next week, Matt, See you then vis