After the brief intermission of the Davis Cup qualifiers and the Laver Cup, big ATP competitions return, with the Shanghai Masters (penultimate Masters 1,000 of the year) happening on October 1-12. Before that, several tournaments are being played now in Asia (Chengdu and Hangzhou Open in China, two ATP 250), and this week two ATP 500 tournaments happen almost at the same time: the China Open in Beijing and the Japan Open in Tokyo, both ATP 500 (China Open is also WTA 1000).
And the top two players in the world, Carlos Alcaraz and Jannik Sinner, will not cross paths. Alcaraz, who defeated Sinner at the China Open final last year, will loose those 500 points, but will aim to win the 500 points from the Japan Open. Meanwhile, Sinner will repeat at the China Open, which he already won in 2023.
The 2025 Japan Open will take place between 24-30 September. The top seeded players are:
Carlos Alcaraz (1)
Taylor Fritz (5)
Holger Rune (11)
Casper Ruud (12)
Tomáš Macháč (22)
Ugo Humbert (24)
Denis Shapovalov (26)
Frances Tiafoe (29)
The 2025 China Open will take place between 25 September - 1 October. The top seeded players are:
Jannik Sinner (2)
Alexander Zverev (3)
Alex de Miñaur (8)
Lorenzo Musetti (9)
Karen Khachanov (10)
Andrey Rublev (14)
Jakub Mensik (17)
Daniil Medvedev (18)
After that, the Shanghai Masters take place between September 29 and October 6. Sinner will be defending those 1,000 points, while Alcaraz will only drop 200 points, so the gap between the Spaniard and the Italian could increase...