Where does Djokovic's loss to Vacherot rank in the all-time tennis upsets?

Novak Djokovic suffered one of the biggest shock defeats in tennis history as he lost to World No.204 Valentin Vacherot in the semifinal of the Shanghai Masters.

In doing so, the Monegasque No.1 became the lowest-ranked Masters 1000 finalist in a historic 6-3 6-4 victory.

The story becomes even more incredible as Vacherot will meet his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in the final, after he also pulled off a shock when taking down Daniil Medvedev in the other semifinal.

Djokovic, who had made history as the eldest player to reach a Masters 100 quarterfinal at 38, struggled from the off with an injury to his left glute and had to take a medical timeout midway through the first set.

He had issues throughout the tournament with the testing, humid conditions in Shanghai, that resulted in him taking smelling salts and using an inhaler, as well as vomiting several times on court.

Nevertheless though, his defeat to qualifier Vacherot is undoubtedly one of the sport's biggest shocks, but where does it rank in the history of tennis' most surprising victories?

- Coco Gauff overcomes double faults; will face Pegula in Wuhan final

- Aryna Sabalenka extends Wuhan winning streak to 20 matches

- Oliveira, who said kiss caused positive test, gets 4-year ban

Robin Soderling v Rafael Nadal (2009 French Open)

Rafael Nadal had won the previous four editions of the French Open and was the clear favourite to make it a fifth in 2009.

"The King of Clay" as he became dubbed, had never lost at Roland Garros, winning all 31 of his previous matches, and met Swede Robin Soderling in the fourth round.

The World No.1 at the time was expected to breeze past Soderling, having beaten him 6-1 6-0 in Rome just a few weeks earlier.

Everything was stacked against Soderling but the 23rd seed did not let that affect him and won the first set 6-2 in just 34 minutes.

Nadal won the second set in a tiebreak and it appeared normal service would resume, but Soderling simply refused to be beaten and won the third set 6-4.

Nadal broke early in the fourth set to lead 2-0 but again Soderling showed his resolve and broke back, before stunning the entire sporting world and holding his nerve to win a fourth set tie break and hand Nadal his first-ever defeat in Paris in the process.

Sergiy Stakhovsky v Roger Federer (2013 Wimbledon)

When Roger Federer took to Centre Court to face World No.116 Sergiy Stakhovsky in the second round of Wimbledon, it seemed inevitable it would be a walkover for the Swiss superstar.

After all, he was a seven-time winner there, along with being the reigning champion. His opponent had never beaten a top 10 player before.

But the crowd at SW19 were treated to a slice of history.

Federer took the first set in a tiebreak, but then Stakhovsky won the second set with a tiebreak win of his own.

His brutal serve and volley style was causing 31-year-old Federer problems and it did so again in the third set, which Stakhovsky won 7-5 to shockingly go a set ahead.

The indefatigable Ukrainian continued to apply pressure and took the fourth set to yet another tiebreak after over three hours of intense, top-quality tennis.

Federer was unable to stop his power and one of Wimbledon's greatest ever shocks was complete, prompting Stakovsky to say: "I can tell my grandkids that I kicked the butt of Roger Federer."

Denis Istomin v Novak Djokovic (2017 Australian Open)

Djokovic's defeat to Vacherot is not the first time he has been stung by someone nobody expected him to lose to.

In 2017 he faced Uzbekistani world No.117 Denis Istomin in the second round of the Australian Open, a competition he had already won six times, including the 2016 edition.

What he was treated to by Istomin though was a gruelling match that lasted almost five hours and resulted in the Serbian exiting at the second round of a Grand Slam for the first time since Wimbledon in 2008.

Djokovic struggled for rhythm against Istomin, who took the first set in a tiebreak.

The Serb did win both the second and third sets but Istomin hit back and won the fourth and fifth sets to hand Djokovic only his second defeat to a player ranked outside the top 100 and, temporarily at least, end his dominance in Melbourne.

Roberta Vinci v Serena Williams (2015 US Open)

Serena Williams was in the form of her life in 2015 and reached the US Open semifinals looking to complete the calendar Grand Slam.

It looked inevitable that she would at least march into the final when she was matched up against unseeded Roberta Vinci.

Williams had faced Vinci four times previously, winning all four encounters in straight sets and losing just 21 games in total.

That day at Flushing Meadows appeared to be heading for another simple win for Williams when she won the first set 6-2.

However, Vinci suddenly found a second wind and managed to win the second and third sets 6-4 to stop Williams in her tracks and ruin her perfect Grand Slam record that year.

Flavia Pennetta had also shocked Simona Halep in the other semifinal, meaning it was an all-Italian affair in the final, and Vinci was unable to make lighting strike twice, falling to a 7-6 6-2 defeat.

Tracy Austin v Chris Evert (1979 Italian Open)

When talking about dominance in sport, Chris Evert's 125-match win streak on clay between 1973 and 1979 has to be right up there as one of the most impressive records.

So when she was put up against a 16-year-old in the Italian Open semifinals, you would have been forgiven for not tuning in, such was the inevitability.

That would have been a mistake, as that 16-year-old was not just any old teenager, it was Tracy Austin.

Evert had beaten Austin at Wimbledon two years prior but on a sunny Roman day in May 1979, a pig-tailed Austin shocked the tennis world.

She won the first set 6-4 to raise eyebrows in the Italian capital but when Evert won the second set 6-2 and led 4-1 in the third set, it appeared that first set loss would be no more than a scare for the 24-year-old.

Austin responded though and managed to win five of the next seven games to take the match to the wire in the form of a third set tiebreak.

The teenager held her nerve against Evert and managed to end her incredible winning streak on clay.

She became the youngest ever US Open champion later that year, triumphing again against Evert at Flushing Meadows aged 16 years and nine months.

Djokovic's shock loss to Vacherot today has to be compared to the five above. But with some of the greatest players of all time losing unexpected matches in their prime, it probably ranks just below them.

Click here to read article