Defending champion Daniil Medvedev will have to overcome a series of difficult tests if he is to retain his title at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, where Jannik Sinner, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Alexander Zverev have landed in his quarter.
The 27-year-old triumphed at the Chinese ATP Masters 1000 event when the tournament was last held in 2019. Returning this week, Medvedev will face Cristian Garin or a qualifier in the second round, with 14th seed Auger-Aliassime a potential fourth-round opponent.
Medvedev, who has captured four tour-level titles on hard courts this year, is seeded to meet sixth seed Jannik Sinner in the quarter-finals. The World No. 3 leads the Italian 6-0 in the pair’s Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Ben Shelton could face 2019 finalist Alexander Zverev in the third round in Sinner’s section.
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At the top of the draw, Carlos Alcaraz will face Nuno Borges or Gregoire Barrere on debut in Shanghai. The top seed is seeded to play Karen Khachanov in the fourth round and could take on Taylor Fritz or Frances Tiafoe in the quarter-finals.
The Spaniard will be looking for a deep run in Shanghai to boost his hopes of finishing ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone for a second consecutive year. Still alive in Beijing, the 20-year-old would arrive in Shanghai 315 points behind Novak Djokovic in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin if he wins the title in Beijing.
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Fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas and sixth seed Andrey Rublev are also in Alcaraz’s half. Tsitsipas begins against a qualifier or Laslo Djere and could play Turin hopeful Cameron Norrie in the last 16. Rublev starts against Quentin Halys or Aslan Karatsev and is seeded to meet Tommy Paul in the fourth round.
American Paul is 12th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, 665 points behind eighth-placed Holger Rune, who is in the bottom half and opens against Brandon Nakashima or Bernabe Zapata Miralles.
Casper Ruud is 10th in the Live Race To Turin and 410 points behind Rune. The Norwegian could play Alex de Minaur in the fourth round and Rune in the quarter-finals. De Minaur is 11th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, 185 points behind Ruud.
Three-time champion Andy Murray begins against Roman Safiullin, while former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka starts against Dusan Lajovic. #NextGenATP Chinese star Shang Juncheng plays Japan’s Yosuke Watanuki.