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Exactly three weeks after he exited the US Open in the semi-finals, Carlos Alcaraz made a winning return to action on Friday at the China Open. The Spaniard defeated qualifier Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 6-3 at the Beijing ATP 500 to begin his late-season charge to return to the top of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

With victory in his first ATP Tour match in China, Alcaraz improved to 14-0 this season in first-round matches and 59-7 overall, his 59 wins leading the ATP Tour. Alcaraz also leads the ATP Tour in titles (8) and finals (6) this season, both personal bests.

[ATP APP]

He began the Asian swing behind World No. 1 Novak Djokovic in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, but could close that gap to 315 points by winning his first title since Wimbledon in Beijing.

"Hopefully I have a lot of years to come here to China. Creating my chapter here in China would be great for me," Alcaraz said after receiving a warm welcome on his debut in the nation. "To finally be able to come here to China and show my tennis in front of the Chinese people is something that I wanted a long time ago and I'm really happy to do it, hopefully the first of many here."

Sebastian Korda pulled through a tense final set against Alexei Popyrin on Friday to make a winning start at the Astana Open.

The American prevailed 7-6(5), 6-7(4), 6-4 in a first-round clash of fine margins at the Kazakhstani ATP 250 event. Korda had led 4-2 in the deciding set of the pair’s maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting before Popyrin rallied to 4-4 to set up a tense climax. It was the fifth-seeded Korda who found a second break of his Australian opponent’s serve in the 11th game, however, setting him up for a two-hour, 54-minute triumph.

Just under 3 hours! ?

Korda battles past Popyrin 7-6, 6-7, 6-4 and will face Nuno Borges in the next round!@ktf_kz | #AstanaOpen pic.twitter.com/vardPMtwSW

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 29, 2023

The win extended Korda’s solid form on hard courts in 2023. The 23-year-old American has earned 15 of his 19 tour-level wins on the surface, a tally that includes a championship-match run in Adelaide, semi-final appearances in Winston-Salem and Zhuhai, and a quarter-final run at the Australian Open.

Korda will meet Nuno Borges in the second round as he chases a quarter-final spot on event debut in Astana. The World No. 28 is chasing his second ATP Tour title and his first since lifting a trophy on clay in Parma in 2021.

Bouncing back with a bang in Beijing.

Holger Rune snapped a four-match losing streak in style Friday in the Chinese capital by surging to a 6-4, 6-4 triumph against Felix Auger-Aliassime at the China Open.

Rune arrived in Asia without a tour-level win since Wimbledon and had not competed since late August at the US Open. He may have been cursing his luck when drawn against World No. 15 Auger-Aliassime in China but the 20-year-old delivered a rock-solid display to forge an 84-minute triumph on the Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Center’s Diamond court.

“It felt good. I’ve had a tough period, both with my body and match circumstances, so I’m just happy to be back feeling good,” said Rune. “Feeling mentally well on and off the court. I’m just super happy with my level today.”

First win since Wimbledon ?

A fantastic point from @holgerrune2003 on his way to taking out Auger-Aliassime 6-4, 6-4!@ChinaOpen | #ChinaOpen pic.twitter.com/Bi3RM3zUB3

Daniil Medvedev made a red-hot return to China after four years away on Friday, when the World No. 3 eased past Tommy Paul 6-2, 6-1 in Beijing.

Medvedev delivered a stunning display of clean-hitting at the China Open to seal a Tour-leading 39th hard-court win of the season in just 81 minutes. The 27-year-old made just three unforced errors off the ground in his first-round triumph, a level of consistency that ensured Paul was kept under relentless pressure for the entire match.

“It’s not easy for both of us. Both of us a little jet lagged. Him maybe more, coming from Vancouver,” reflected Medvedev. “Maybe that made the difference, but if I think only about myself, I’m happy with my level.

“I played great. The start of the match was not easy, but it’s never easy first round, especially in another part of the world. Then I was playing better and better during the match, so I’m happy about my level.”

Paul regularly approached the net to try and counter Medvedev’s baseline prowess and won 79 per cent (23/29) of points moving forward, but he was still unable to gain a foothold in the encounter. Medvedev converted five of 11 break points he earned to improve to 2-0 in his Lexus ATP Head2Head series with the American.

The Rolex Shanghai Masters was voted by players as the ATP Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year in each of its first five editions from 2009-13. The event has seen previous champions including Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic and Roger Federer.

Here's what you need to know ahead of the ATP Masters 1000:

When is the Rolex Shanghai Masters?

The ATP Masters 1000 event will be held from 4 October to 15 October. The hard-court tournament will take place at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center. The tournament director is Michael A. Luevano.

Who is playing at the Rolex Shanghai Masters?

Carlos Alcaraz will make his Shanghai debut. Daniil Medvedev, Holger Rune, Caper Ruud, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas are also among the field.

When is the draw for the Rolex Shanghai Masters?

The Shanghai singles draw will be made on Monday 2 October at 10:30 a.m. local time, on centre court.

What is the schedule for the Rolex Shanghai Masters?

* Qualifying: Monday, 2 October – Tuesday, 3 October (Start times: Monday at noon; Tuesday at 12:30 p.m.)
* Main Draw: Wednesday, 4 October – Sunday, 15 October (Start times: Wednesday through second Thursday: 12: 30 p.m. and 6:30 p.m.;  Second Friday & Saturday: 2 p.m. and 8 p.m.)
* Doubles Final: Sunday, 15 October at 2 p.m.
* Singles Final: Sunday, 15 October not before 4:30 p.m.

[NEWSLETTER FORM]

What is the prize money and points for the Rolex Shanghai Masters?

The prize money for the Rolex Shanghai Masters is $8,800,000 and the Total Financial Commitment is USD $9,702,520.

Alex de Minaur became just the fourth player to earn five consecutive victories against Andy Murray on Thursday, when he saved three match points to edge the 36-year-old 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(6) at the China Open.

The Australian trailed 2-5 in the decider, but refused to go away, saving two match points on serve at 2-5 and one more at 5/6 in the tie-break to advance after two hours and 53 minutes.

"I think to be honest we both didn't bring out best level today," De Minaur said. "It was a scrap fest and was not pretty but I am happy I was able to get my first win in a long time when I have saved some mach points.

"I kept my head screwed on and I told myself to keep trying and to keep backing myself and eventually I was going to find my level. I am very happy to turn that match around."

De Minaur now leads Murray 5-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series, having defeated the former World No. 1 in Monte-Carlo and Queen’s Club earlier this year. Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are the only other players to record five consecutive victories against Murray, who triumphed in Beijing in 2016.

Marcos Giron overcame Stan Wawrinka in a first-round thriller at the Astana Open, where he clawed past the 38-year-old 6-7(6), 7-6(4), 7-6(8) at the ATP 250 event.

Competing against each other for the first time, there was little to separate the pair throughout the two-hour, 51-minute clash. Neither player faced a break point, with both dictating behind serve. In the third-set tie-break, Giron played consistently, limiting mistakes to pressure former World No. 3 Wawrinka and seal victory.

The American has now earned 20 tour-level wins this season. He achieved a personal-best 23 victories in 2021. Aiming to close that target further, the World No. 82 will next face Dominic Thiem or Juan Pablo Varillas in the second round.

Earlier, Adrian Mannarino clinched his 33rd tour-level win of the year to equal his personal-best season. The Frenchman, who earned 33 victories in 2017, defeated Arthur Rinderknech 7-6(4), 6-2.

The World No. 34 will next meet Alibek Kachmazov after the World No. 315 overcame Corentin Moutet 6-3, 7-6(5) in two hours and seven minutes.

Karen Khachanov and Andrey Rublev are up and running at the China Open after defeating wild cards Jie Cui and Aoran Wang 6-4, 7-5 in the first round.

Khachanov and Rublev, who won the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid this season, won 32 of their 40 first-serve points and saved all six break points faced to secure victory in Beijing. They will next meet qualifiers Alexander Erler and Lucas Miedler, who downed three seeds Maximo Gonzalez and Andres Molteni 6-4, 6-4.

Marcelo Melo and Alexander Zverev also advanced after they survived Marcelo Arevalo and Nikola Mektic 2-6, 6-3, 11-9. The Brazilian-German duo will next face top seeds Ivan Dodig and Austin Krajicek or Kevin Krawietz and Tim Puetz.

Pavic/Peers Reach Astana Second Round
Fourth seeds Mate Pavic and John Peers moved past Marton Fucsovics and Jiri Lehecka 6-3, 7-6(2) in the Astana Open first round. The Croatian-Australian pair are partnering for the first time this week.

Frenchmen Gregoire Barrere and Adrian Mannarino cruised past wild cards Alexander Bublik and Daniil Golubev 6-2, 6-2. Gonzalo Escobar and Aleksandr Nedovyesov defeated Sebastian Baez and Bernabe Zapata Miralles 6-3, 6-2.

Drawn against Dominic Thiem at this week’s Astana Open, Juan Pablo Varillas couldn’t help but reflect on the pair’s meeting at the Argentina Open in February.

The Peruvian navigated through qualifying in Buenos Aires, beat Joao Sousa and then the 2020 US Open champion as part of a career-changing week in the city he lives in.

Varillas proceeded to make a tour-level semi-final for the first time and saw his Pepperstone ATP Ranking climb from No. 101 to No. 81.

He has not been outside the Top 100 benchmark since, currently sitting at No. 67.

“I think that win, and that week, was really like a (tipping point) for me maybe,” the 27-year-old said. “It was like, ‘Now I was able to be at that level and compete at that level, high level, and do it for several matches in a row.’”

Stefanos Tsitsipas' first love is tennis, the sport he was first introduced to in 2001 by his parents, Apostolos and Julia. The Greek star has enjoyed a special ride with tennis ever since.

The 25-year-old sat down with ATP Uncovered to narrate his very own love letter to the sport.

"What felt so special with you is that I felt like part of my own playground, in which there were no rules, no limits," Tsitsipas said of his early days on the court.

He also reflected on the moment he decided to commit to tennis as his main focus and his progression on the ATP Tour, beginning with a lesson-filled defeat against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in Rotterdam in 2017.

What else did Tsitsipas focus on in his tennis journey and why does he sometimes have a love-hate relationship with the sport? Watch the full video below.

Grigor Dimitrov is known as one of the most versatile players in tennis, with impressive shots and intangibles throughout his game. So who would the 2017 Nitto ATP Finals champion pick to make his perfect player?

“Why are you making me think of players now?” Dimitrov joked. “I see them every day!”

[ATP APP]

The Bulgarian star selected an assortment of current and former players, some of whom have reached No. 1 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. But who are the players and for which shot did he pick them?

There was one shot in particular that proved menacing for the former World No. 3.

Three players have qualified for the Nitto ATP Finals: Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev. Who will move closer to earning a spot in Turin this week, with events taking place in Beijing and Astana?

Only 630 points separate fifth-placed Andrey Rublev and ninth-placed Taylor Fritz. With 12 of the Top 15 players in the Live Race competing this week at the China Open, an ATP 500 event, there will be plenty of opportunities for moves to be made.

ATPTour.com looks at players in contention for the season finale.

View Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin Standings

No. 7 Alexander Zverev
The German moved from eighth place to seventh place in the Live Race with his run in Chengdu, where he claimed his second title of the season (also Hamburg). The 26-year-old is now 215 points clear of Holger Rune for the eighth and final qualifying position.

Wild card Alexander Shevchenko snapped a four-match losing streak on Wednesday at the Astana Open, where he overcame Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp 6-4, 6-3 at the ATP 250 event.

Shevchenko earned his first tour-level hard-court wins in Washington in August, when he defeated Maxime Cressy and Sebastian Korda. The 22-year-old looked sharp against van de Zandschulp, breaking the World No. 68’s serve four times to advance in the pair’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

Shevchenko, currently No. 84 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, will next play Hamad Medjedovic after the #NextGenATP Serbian advanced against Laslo Djere.

[ATP APP]

Medjedovic was leading 6-3, 2-1 on tournament debut when countryman Djere was forced to retire. The 20-year-old Medjedovic, who is the youngest player in the draw, is aiming for a deep run in Astana to boost his Next Gen ATP Finals chances.

Daniil Medvedev holds a Tour-leading 33 wins on hard courts this year and has lifted four trophies on the surface, equal with Novak Djokovic. Arriving at the China Open this week, the World No. 3 is determined to add to his title collection.

“It's my first time in Beijing. The tournament is super strong. So if you win it, it's great. It's a great memory. It's great for the confidence. There are still some important tournaments to come, so the better you play the end of the season, the better you play the beginning of the next one,” Medvedev said during his pre-tournament press conference. “The motivation is to try to do all this, to continue proving to yourself that you can win these big tournaments, big titles, against big opponents.”

Medvedev is making his debut in Beijing and arrives at the ATP 500 event off the back of a run to the title match at the US Open, where he defeated Carlos Alcaraz in the semi-finals.

The 27-year-old is excited by the possibility of facing top seed Alcaraz again this week, but is wary of the other threats in a stacked ATP 500 field. Eight of the Top 10 players in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings are competing in Beijing.

“I think if we face each other, we are both happy, we are both in the final,” Medvedev said when asked about potentially playing Alcaraz. “That's a good goal, to try to make this happen.

Carlos Alcaraz arrives at the China Open with double motivation. If the Spaniard can capture his seventh tour-level title of the season at the ATP 500, he would close the gap to 315 points on Novak Djokovic in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin.

The Spaniard is chasing a second consecutive ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone finish.

“As I said a few times, we have a really beautiful battle for the No. 1 spot after the great performance Djokovic had in the American season,” Alcaraz said. “He's the No. 1 right now. I'm coming here with extra motivation to try to recover it in the Race, of course, in the ranking. As I said, it's something that I have in my mind every time that I practice, in every tournament.

“Is not obligatory for me to recover that, but of course you have to put the goals in the year. So for me No. 1 spot is one of the main goals for me. In these great tournaments, I'm looking to do great to be able to be close or recover that number.”

Alcaraz, who opens against qualifier Yannick Hanfmann in Beijing, is competing for the first time since he reached the semi-finals at the US Open earlier in September (l. to Medvedev). The 20-year-old is pleased with how his preparations have gone ahead of the Asian Swing.

From teen prodigy to established Top 10 star, Jannik Sinner has become one of the most exciting young players on the ATP Tour.

Yet the story of the 22-year-old’s success is far from a one-man show, and for the 2023 season he has been accompanied at tournaments by any of four regular team members – coaches Simone Vagnozzi and Darren Cahill, physio Giacomo Naldi and fitness coach Umberto Ferrara.

The ATP Tour caught up with Team Sinner to find out more about the inner workings of the eight-time tour-level champion’s quest to reach the very top of the game.

Jannik Sinner

“I would describe my team as nice people, happy people,” Sinner told the ATP Tour earlier this year. “Everyone knows very well what he has to do. I feel good with them and lucky to have them, so I think it is a very good team.”

Different coaches bring different ideas to the table. Sinner believes his open-mindedness to learn from the combined experience of Vagnozzi and Cahill, as well as physical specialists Naldi and Ferrara, is key to his continued development.

As he began his title defence at the 2023 US Open, Carlos Alcaraz said he felt like a better player than when he won his first major title in New York. While the Spaniard could not repeat his trophy feat at the hard-court Slam, his statistics this season trump his 2022 campaign almost across the board.

There is one key measure by which Alcaraz is off his previous pace: the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. Alcaraz debuted at World No. 1 following his US Open triumph last year and held onto that position to finish the year as the ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone. This September, he sits at No. 2.

But a closer look reveals that the 20-year-old has improved even by the measure of the Pepperstone ATP Rankings.

[ATP APP]

After finishing the 2022 season with 6,820 points, Alcaraz already has 8,175 points in this year's Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. He's just 770 points behind Novak Djokovic in the Live Race, with two ATP Masters 1000s (Shanghai, Paris) and the Nitto ATP Finals still to come, among other events.

Liam Broady reached the Wimbledon boys’ singles final aged 17 and after turning 18, became the No. 2 junior in the world. After more than a decade, the Briton has made his biggest breakthrough on the ATP Tour.

On Tuesday, 29-year-old Broady cracked the Top 100 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings for the first time by climbing to a career-high World No. 93. The lefty credits his surge over the past few years to a change in mentality, how he treats his career and his attitude on the court. Why did he make that shift?

“Partly the feeling like I'm a bit of a disappointment to what my junior career was, and feeling like I was wasting my talent. I also didn't really want to live with that feeling anymore of being rubbish or being trash at tennis and knowing I could do something about it,” Broady told ATPTour.com in July. “Whereas nowadays, I go to bed at night and I feel like, ‘Yeah, I'm doing everything I can to be better at the sport.’ I'm doing everything I can to try and achieve what I can and if I don't, at least I can say I've done that.

“I'm a big believer in karma and stuff. I think if you do the right things, good things happen, whether that's during your career or after it.”

Broady was immortalised on Netflix earlier this year when his match against Nick Kyrgios was covered on Break Point. But the Briton has proven he is far more than a complimentary character in a docuseries. He is himself one of the best players in the world, and credits his progression to his maturity.

Eight of the Top 10 players in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings are set to compete at the China Open in Beijing, including debutants Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev. In addition to the star-studded ATP 500, this week will also see ATP 250 action at the Astana Open, where home favourite Alexander Bublik joins Stan Wawrinka and Dominic Thiem in the field.

ATPTour.com looks ahead at 10 things to watch this week.

[ATP APP]

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN BEIJING
1) Alcaraz Returns To Action: Alcaraz is set for his first tournament since his semi-final defeat to Medvedev at the US Open. The Spaniard enters Beijing just 770 points behind Novak Djokovic in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, which also serves as a barometre for the battle for ATP Year-End No. 1 presented by Pepperstone. With strong results in Beijing and the following week at the Rolex Shanghai Masters, Alcaraz could leave Asia in fist place in the Live Race. He will face a qualifier in the first round in Beijing.

2) Medvedev Seeks To Extend Hard-Court Dominance: Medvedev has earned 38 hard-court wins this season, with the World No. 3 claiming four titles in 2023 on his favourite surface. Prior to his run to the US Open final, the 27-year-old's hard-court form peaked earlier this season when he reached five straight ATP Tour finals, winning four titles, capped with a trophy at the Miami ATP Masters 1000 in early April. The Beijing second seed will need to be ready from the first point as he opens against World No. 13 Tommy Paul.

Alexander Zverev completed a hard-earned title run on Tuesday evening in China as he claimed a 6-7(2), 7-6(5), 6-3 championship match win against Roman Safiullin at the Chengdu Open.

Zverev sealed his third three-set win in four matches at the ATP 250 by holding firm in the face of a clean-hitting display from Safiullin, who was competing in his maiden tour-level final. Zverev was two points from defeat at 5/5 in the second-set tie-break but he raised his level to seal a two-hour, 56-minute triumph and claim his 21st tour-level crown.

“He’s playing the best tennis of his life for sure,” said Zverev of Safiullin. “The way he was winning this week, I think he beat a lot of great players quite easily, so I knew that he was playing well. Obviously, I’m happy to be able to come back and to win this title.”

The little jump of happiness ?

Your 2023 #ChengduOpen Singles Champion: @AlexZverev ?@ChengduOpen pic.twitter.com/Cr3AWUysG4

— ATP Tour (@atptour) September 26, 2023

Safiullin had lit up Chengdu with a series of clean-hitting displays en route to the final and he did not let up for the championship match, striking 33 winners to his opponent’s 25. He saved three set points from 4-5, 0/40 to win the opening set, but the World No. 10 Zverev dialled in behind his big first serve and finished the stronger as he improved to 14-6 in tour-level finals on hard courts.