Valentin Vacherot meets Prince Albert II at the Monte-Carlo Country Club

The king of Shanghai meets the Prince of Monaco: After a stunning Shanghai triumph, Valentin Vacherot had a homecoming fit for a king.

The 26-year-old rewrote tennis history last week by winning nine matches at the Rolex Shanghai Masters to become the first player representing Monaco to win an ATP tour title in the Open Era. Ranked No. 204 and a qualifier, he defeated four Top 40 players en route, including Novak Djokovic and Holger Rune, before topping his cousin Arthur Rinderknech in an unexpected final that gauranteed a first-time Masters 1000 champion.

🖥️📲 The Match in 15 Minutes: Vacherot vs. Rinderknech, Shanghai

Avid tennis fan Prince Albert II of Monaco watched the final from afar, blowing up the phone of Melanie-Antoinette de Massy, president of the Monegasque Tennis Federation, Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters and the Monte-Carlo Country Club, phone in the process. After he spoke with Vacherot over the phone in the hours after his stunning win, the prince and others had a warm welcome wagon awaiting his return to Monaco.

Vacherot was first greeted by a vociferous cheering section of friends at the airport, who threw confetti, waved flags, and wore shirts that spelled out his name.

In a more stately scene, de Massey joined the royal, club members, and staff who gathered to applaud Vacherot’s incredible achievement, celebrating both the player himself and the sporting success for Monaco. The principality was recently named World Capital of Sport by the Association of European Capitals and Cities of Sport (ACES), recognizing its "commitment to sports development, its infrastructure, support for international events, and its efforts to make sport accessible to all citizens," according to a press release, and Prince Albert II made note of how Vacherot's improbable win would reverberate outside of tennis.

Read more: Who is Valentin Vacherot? Monegasque keeps rewriting tennis history with Shanghai surprise

"A strong moment, full of emotions, which is fully integrated into the sporting momentum of Monaco," wrote the prince on Instagram.

Vacherot still was processing just how much his life on and off the court has changed when he appeared on Tennis Channel 2's "Second Serve" program on Wednesday,

"My big goal this year was to be Top 100," he confessed after reaching No. 110 this year before a six-month injury break, "and I was losing a bit of faith. We were already in September, and I was still ranked No. 200, so it was almost that I needed to win every Challenger I was going to play to break Top 100. ... It more than happened."

But after hearing from more than a few of his peers ranked south of No. 100 in the ATP rankings in congratulations and gratitude, he had an uplifting message to share.

"A few of them texted me and said, 'Thank you,' because they told me that I gave so many players the motivation to go to work every day and still have the hope that a run like that [comes]," he said. "Everyone is going to believe now that they could make it. The level was already so close between 200, Top 100 guys ... and I feel now that people are going to believe even more that they could do it."