Shanghai Masters 2026 Preview: Dates, Draw and Contenders

The Rolex Shanghai Masters runs from 7 to 18 October 2026 at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, and the draw was made on 5 October. Alexander Zverev is the top seed and Carlos Alcaraz the second, so they are in opposite halves and cannot meet before the final. Jannik Sinner, the 2024 champion, is not in the draw, and Valentin Vacherot defends the title he won as a qualifier ranked No. 204.

Result, 18 October: Alejandro Davidovich Fokina won the title, beating Rafael Jódar 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in the final after knocking out the top seed Alexander Zverev 5-7, 6-4, 6-3 in the semi-finals. It was his first Masters 1000 title. Our report on the final and the full results have the detail, and the analysis below was written when the draw came out on 5 October.

The 32 seeds all have first-round byes in the 96-player draw. Several of them arrive straight from the second week of the Asian swing. Alcaraz arrives as the Tokyo champion, after beating Jiří Lehečka 7-6(4), 6-4 in the Japan Open final to defend his title. In Beijing, Novak Djokovic won a seventh title on 6 October when Alex de Minaur retired injured trailing 7-6(3), 0-1 in the ATP China Open final. Daniil Medvedev, the No. 5 seed here, arrives after being disqualified from his Beijing semi-final against Djokovic (see our report on the disqualification), and Hubert Hurkacz retired injured from his semi-final against de Minaur.

Key Facts

The Draw Quarter by Quarter

First quarter: Zverev, Cobolli and de Minaur

Zverev, who won Roland-Garros and the US Open this year, opens against the wildcard Yibing Wu, who beat the lucky loser Michael Zheng 6-3, 7-6(6). He comes in after losing his Beijing quarter-final to Djokovic 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 having won the first set. Alexander Blockx, the No. 27 seed, is drawn to meet him in the third round, and Alexander Bublik (19) or Brandon Nakashima (16) in the last 16. Matteo Berrettini beat Aleksandar Kovacevic 6-7(3), 6-1, 6-4 in the first round and plays Nakashima.

The bottom of the quarter is busier. De Minaur (9) and Andrey Rublev (23) are drawn to meet in the third round, a week after de Minaur beat Rublev 1-6, 6-2, 6-3 in the Beijing quarter-finals. De Minaur retired from the Beijing final with a groin injury, so his fitness is a question. Flavio Cobolli, the No. 6 seed and the Roland-Garros runner-up, lost his first match in Beijing to Roman Safiullin. Karen Khachanov (26), a US Open semi-finalist this year, plays Arthur Fery, who beat Marin Čilić 7-6(2), 6-1 in the first round.

Second quarter: Shelton and Djokovic

Ben Shelton, the No. 3 seed and US Open runner-up, beat Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 7-6(6) in the second round and then lost 7-6(5), 7-6(3) to Arthur Gea in the third. Jakub Menšík (13), Francisco Cerúndolo (21) and Ugo Humbert (30) are the other seeds in Shelton’s section.

Djokovic, who won a seventh Beijing title on 6 October, is the No. 10 seed and holds the Shanghai record with four titles, won in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2018. He reached the semi-finals last year before losing to Vacherot. He lost 6-4, 6-3 to Hubert Hurkacz, the 2023 champion, in the second round on 9 October, his first defeat against Hurkacz after eight wins (our Djokovic v Hurkacz head-to-head has the record). Hurkacz plays the wildcard Yi Zhou, who beat Lorenzo Musetti (24) 7-6(7), 3-6, 7-6(1), in the third round, and the winner is drawn to meet Frances Tiafoe (7) or Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (25) in the last 16. Jaume Munar, a qualifier who reached the Tokyo semi-finals, lost 7-5, 6-4 to Jenson Brooksby, who plays Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (25). The quarter-final is now Shelton’s section against the Hurkacz, Zhou, Tiafoe and Davidovich Fokina section.

Third quarter: Auger-Aliassime and Fils

Félix Auger-Aliassime, the No. 4 seed, opens against Camilo Ugo Carabelli or the qualifier Ilia Simakin. Like Cobolli, he lost his first match in Beijing, beaten 6-3, 6-3 by Khachanov. Learner Tien (14), Casper Ruud (20) and Alejandro Tabilo (29) make up the rest of his section.

Arthur Fils (8) came through qualifying in Tokyo and reached the quarter-finals. He opens against the qualifier Pavel Kotov or Tallon Griekspoor, with Alex Michelsen (31) seeded to follow. Lehečka (22) and Rafael Jódar (12) are drawn to meet in the third round.

Fourth quarter: Alcaraz, Medvedev and the defending champion

Alcaraz, the Tokyo champion, beat Juan Manuel Cerúndolo 6-3, 6-3 in the second round and plays Zizou Bergs, who beat Ignacio Buse (32) 6-0, 6-3, in the third. The section beneath him holds Vacherot (17) and Tommy Paul (15), so the defending champion is drawn to meet Alcaraz in the last 16. Vacherot beat Sebastián Báez 6-4, 7-6(5) in the second round and plays Tommy Paul (15) in the third.

Medvedev (5), who won the Hangzhou Open before Beijing, was disqualified from his semi-final there and was champion here in 2019, opens against Martín Landaluce or Jan-Lennard Struff. Cameron Norrie plays the qualifier Dalibor Svrčina, after Denis Shapovalov withdrew with a right hip injury, for a place against Tomás Martín Etcheverry (28). Taylor Fritz (11) and Luciano Darderi (18) are the other seeds, and Stefanos Tsitsipas beat the qualifier Kimmer Coppejans 6-3, 7-5 in the first round and plays Darderi. On seeding, the quarter-final is Medvedev against Alcaraz.

British Players

Norrie’s opener got easier when Shapovalov, who retired from his Tokyo quarter-final, withdrew from Shanghai with a right hip injury. Norrie now plays the qualifier Dalibor Svrčina. Fery beat Čilić 7-6(2), 6-1 in the first round and plays Khachanov. Billy Harris lost to Svrčina 4-6, 7-6(6), 7-5 in the first round of qualifying, having won the first set. Jacob Fearnley is not in either draw.

What Is at Stake

The champion takes 1,000 ranking points, and with Paris the last Masters 1000 event before the ATP Finals, Shanghai is where most of the remaining places in Turin are decided. On the Race to Turin published on 28 September, Zverev led on 8,650 points and Sinner was second on 7,950. Behind Shelton and Alcaraz, the eight players from fifth to twelfth were separated by 1,165 points, with Medvedev eighth on 2,870. Those figures do not yet include Beijing or Tokyo.

Conditions

Shanghai’s courts are medium-paced and the October humidity makes the ball heavy, which historically rewards the biggest hitters and the fittest players rather than the best movers. With 96 players the event takes a while to get going, and the second week is usually where the seeds reassert themselves.

How to Watch in the UK

Sky Sports Tennis carries the Masters 1000 events in the UK, with streaming through NOW, and Bet365 streams to eligible account holders. Shanghai is seven hours ahead of the UK, so day play starts in the early hours and the night session lands around midday. Our Shanghai Masters TV guide and the full how to watch tennis guide have the detail.

More Coverage

Read our Shanghai Masters betting tips, the prize money breakdown and the list of past champions. Full coverage sits on our Shanghai Masters hub, every event we follow is in the tournaments index, and the dates are in the 2026 tennis calendar. The finals that precede the draw have their own previews: Alcaraz v Lehečka in Tokyo and Djokovic v de Minaur in Beijing. Every score as the draw plays out is on our Shanghai Masters results page.