AN IMPROBABLE meeting between cousins in the final of the Shanghai Masters moved a step closer when Arthur Rinderknech beat Felix Auger-Aliassime today to join Valentin Vacherot in the last four.

One of the stories of the season has developed in the Chinese city, with Frenchman Rinderknech and Monegasque Vacherot sending some of the world’s best players packing on opposite sides of the draw.

Vacherot, ranked outside the top 200, stunned 10th seed Holger Rune on Thursday with a nervous Rinderknech watching courtside, and the roles were reversed today as the Frenchman defeated US Open semi-finalist Auger-Aliassime 6-3 6-4.

Asked about his emotions, Rinderknech said: “Huge for sure. First of all I follow my cousin. He’s going through the emotions and I’m trying to battle to follow and do as good as him.

“He’s been incredible since the beginning of the week and the whole family is following from home. We are in a little world here of our own. It’s been incredible, it’s been unreal.”

Vacherot’s run has been particularly improbable, with the 26-year-old originally not even sure of getting into qualifying only to find himself two steps from one of the biggest trophies on the ATP Tour and with a clash against Novak Djokovic to come.

Rinderknech admitted he found sitting through Thursday’s contest much more difficult than his own quarter-final, saying: “I was stressing so much yesterday during the whole match.

“I’m not used to watching guys playing on court and wanting him to win so much. I was trying not to show anything. Today was a lot more calm for me on court.”

Rinderknech will next face Daniil Medvedev tomorrow, who again suffered with cramp but produced an impressive performance to defeat Alex De Minaur 6-4 6-4.

“I was super tired and I knew that against Alex we’re going to have long points,” said the Russian.

“But I’m happy with the way I played. I was really clutch in the important moments, I was hitting the ball great, I was putting him under pressure many times. The second set was tough, tight but I managed to really bring the best of me in the last two games.”