The Asian swing concludes with the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where Jannik Sinner is a massive favorite now that Carlos Alcaraz is out of the tournament following the ankle injury that he sustained en route to the Tokyo title. Still, the field is stacked with 19 of the top 22 players in the world taking the court–including four-time Shanghai champion Novak Djokovic.
What’s in store for the penultimate Masters 1000 event of 2025?
Rolex Shanghai Masters
Where: Shanghai, China
Surface: Hard
Prize money: $9,193,540
Points: 1000
Top seed: Jannik Sinner
Defending champion: Jannik Sinner
Draw analysis: With Alcaraz out of the tournament, the top half of the draw is wide open. That is the case to an even greater extent given that Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti, Daniil Medvedev, and Jakub Mensik have all been dealing with physical problems on this Asian swing. U.S. Open semifinalist Felix Auger-Aliassime could be one to take advantage, but it remains to be seen what kind of state his tennis game is in after getting married a few days ago.
Djokovic has not played anything other than Grand Slams since making a Geneva appearance in May, but the 38-year-old Serb is back to bid for a fifth Shanghai title. He is on a collision course for the quarterfinals with Ben Shelton, although the American has not played since the U.S. Open because of a shoulder injury.
The draw sets up nicely for Djokovic–at least until a potential semifinal date with Sinner, his recent nemesis. It’s not an entirely simple road for the world No. 2. On the heels of a possible opening match against Daniel Altmaier, Sinner could face Tallon Griekspoor in round three and either Alexander Bublik or Tomas Machac in the last 16. Tokyo runner-up Taylor Fritz is a likely quarterfinal foe for the four-time major winner.
Hot: Jannik Sinner, Taylor Fritz, Alex de Minaur, Lorenzo Musetti, Alexander Bublik, Jiri Lehecka, Luciano Darderi, Ugo Blanchet, Alejando Tabilo, Valentin Royer, Terence Atmane, Learner Tien, Jenson Brooksby
Cold: Andrey Rublev, Daniil Medvedev, Ugo Humbert, Frances Tiafoe, Stefanos Tsitsipas, Stan Wawrinka, Mariano Navone, Jerry Shang, David Goffin, Matteo Berrettini, Zhizhen Zhang, Laslo Djere
Quarterfinal predictions: Alex de Minaur vs. Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, Jiri Lehecka over Felix Auger-Aliassime, Casper Ruud over Novak Djokovic, and Jannik Sinner over Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard
Semifinals: De Minaur over Lehecka and Sinner over Ruud
Final: Sinner over De Minaur
who ya got?
Nearly everyone injured.
Sinner over FAA
But my real pick is Nole
We will watch as Ricky’s draw picks collapse faster than a house of cards, but for a change no Fritz even in the quarters, even though Ricky rides that bandwagon hard, what happened there?
What does getting married have to do with FAA’s tennis.
Tenni not all about technical, happiness counts too
Not what I’m saying, I’m referring to what Ricky Said.
FAAs tennis might be fine,but his mind is elsewhere is the point you seem to miss on purpose.
Quarterfinals: De Minaur over Medvedev, Felix over Zverev, Djokovic over Ruud, Sinner over Fritz
Semifinals: Felix over De Minaur, Sinner over Djokovic
Final: Sinner over Felix
This is starting to feel like the top half of the US Open…
nice call Ricky on Tiafoe and Shelton throwing their opening matches
Sinner over Demon sounds right