Serving up a masterpiece

"It was just an unreal moment for both of us, for our family. Unfortunately, there was one winner. But our family won, and the sport of tennis won as well, because the story we just wrote is amazing."

Vacherot has climbed 164 spots to No 40 in the ATP rankings and bagged over $1.12 million in winner's prize money, having almost doubled his previous career total of $594,077 before Shanghai, in the fairy-tale run of the year.

German pair Kevin Krawietz and Tim Putz beat Swede Andre Goransson and Alex Michelsen of the United States in straight sets in the earlier doubles final to become just the second all-German duo to win an ATP 1000 doubles title.

A holiday boom

After Sunday's denouement, this year's tournament registered an all-time high total spectator attendance of 250,000, with 10 percent of visitors coming from overseas, also the highest number in its history, according to Shanghai Juss Sports Development Group, the organizer and promoter of the Shanghai Masters.

High attendance, thanks to the eight-day National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays, contributed to a tournament-record ticket revenue of 100 million yuan ($14 million), as well as over 20 million yuan in merchandising sales.

"The tournament has emerged as a huge contributor to the holiday economy in Shanghai, with the increasing number of spectators also benefiting tourism, accommodation and catering businesses, which has more than met our expectations and goals," said Yang Yibin, chairman of Juss Sports.