Valentin Vacherot beat Taylor Fritz 7-6(5), 6-3 to become the first Monegasque in a Swiss Indoors final, while Jiri Lehecka came from a set down to beat Jan-Lennard Struff 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Vacherot and Lehecka will meet in Sunday’s Basel final, both chasing a first title of 2026.
Basel, Switzerland: A year after Valentin Vacherot stunned the tour by winning the Shanghai Masters, he is back in a final. The Monegasque survived a first-set scare against sixth seed Taylor Fritz on Saturday, and Lehecka, the eighth seed, fought through a three-set tussle with Germany’s Struff to book a Sunday showdown at the Swiss Indoors.
Vacherot turns the tie-break around
Vacherot looked in trouble early in the first-set tie-break, trailing 4-1. He then won six of the next seven points to take it 7-5, a swing that changed the shape of the match. Fritz, who had advanced to the last four from the quarter-finals when Arthur Fils retired, could not recover the lost ground.
In the second set Vacherot saved an early break point, then broke Fritz at 4-3 to move within one game of the match. He served it out to complete a 7-6(5), 6-3 win. The victory puts the 27-year-old in his first final of 2026 and his first at ATP 500 level, and makes him the first player from Monaco to reach the title match in Basel. He is chasing his first title since that Shanghai breakthrough in 2025.
Lehecka survives Struff’s push
The second semi-final needed three sets. Struff, who entered the draw as a special exempt, won the opening set 6-3, but Lehecka levelled by taking the second 7-5. In the decider Lehecka broke Struff in the opening game and held firm from there to win 6-4, saving a match point along the way.
The result sends the Czech into another final. Lehecka, the eighth seed, had brushed past Jerome Kym in the quarter-finals, and now meets Vacherot with a title on the line.
A final with plenty at stake
Vacherot and Lehecka are both seeking a first title of the season, which gives Sunday’s match an added edge. Fritz and Struff both depart, Struff having reached the last four by beating Nuno Borges 6-2, 6-3 in the quarter-finals.
Semi-final results (Swiss Indoors Basel, ATP 500): Valentin Vacherot (MON) d. Taylor Fritz (USA, 6) 7-6(5), 6-3; Jiri Lehecka (CZE, 8) d. Jan-Lennard Struff (GER, SE) 3-6, 7-5, 6-4. Final (Sunday): Vacherot v Lehecka.
