BASEL. Valentin Vacherot won the Swiss Indoors on Sunday, coming from a set down to beat eighth seed Jiri Lehecka 2-6, 6-3, 6-3 in one hour and 54 minutes. The 27 year old from Monaco takes his second ATP title, after the Shanghai Masters last year, and his first of this season. He is the first Monegasque player to win an ATP 500 title since the series began in 2009. The Swiss interest on the day was the doubles, and that final went the other way.
Vacherot dropped his serve three times in the opening set, then saved all five break points he faced across the next two, according to ATP statistics. He sealed the match when Lehecka’s two-handed backhand landed just long. Mohamed Lahyani was in the chair at St. Jakobshalle. Lehecka, the last seed left in the singles, was chasing the first title of his year and did not get it. Vacherot now leads their head-to-head 2-1, reversing a semi-final loss in Tokyo.
What the week was worth to a man ranked 31
Vacherot arrived in Basel ranked 31 and leaves with an ATP 500 trophy, indoor form of nine wins and one loss this season, and a line through a draw that had already lost Ben Shelton, Novak Djokovic and Taylor Fritz. The only indoor loss on his 2026 record came against Luca Van Assche in the second round in Lyon. He had beaten Fritz in the semi-final, 7-6 (5), 6-3, to reach a final this newspaper previewed on Sunday morning as unplayed. It has now been played. Writing a winner in advance would have been a guess. Writing one after the handshake is the result.
The home story of the singles had ended earlier. Jerome Kym, a wild card, beat top seed Ben Shelton and lost in the quarter-finals to Lehecka. That was the Swiss run in the singles: a shock, then a straight-sets end against the man who reached the final and lost it. The crowd still had a Swiss pair to watch before the singles.
Bernet and Stricker, two tie-breaks short
Henry Bernet and Dominic Stricker, wild cards, lost the doubles final to third seeds Theo Arribage and Albano Olivetti, 7-6 (6), 7-6 (6). They had beaten the top-seeded German pair to get there. A Swiss champion on the indoor courts at home was one tie-break in two sets away, twice, and both of them went to the French pair. The singles, later, did not offer a second chance at a local winner.
Basel’s tennis week is over. The city’s football club had its own Sunday, and lost 2-1 in Lugano, which is a different sport and a different table. For the indoor season, the fact that travels is the one the ATP put on the result: an unseeded player from Monaco, a set down, a title that no Monegasque had taken at this level. St. Jakobshalle will be back next autumn. The trophy will not.