The AITO Hangzhou Open is one half of the ATP 250 doubleheader that opens the men’s Asian swing, running alongside the Chengdu Open in the same week. In two editions it has produced one of the strangest title runs in the tour’s modern history and one of the cleanest. Here is what the week involves.
The basics
The AITO Hangzhou Open runs 23-29 September 2026 in Hangzhou, China. It is an ATP 250 on outdoor hard courts, and the ATP lists the event’s official site as hangzhouopen.com.
Global Tennis News could not confirm the 2026 singles and doubles draw sizes or the prize money from a primary source before publication; the ATP tournament page serves those figures dynamically and they did not resolve. They are deliberately left out here rather than estimated.
The field
Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev are the top two seeds, according to the ATP Tour. Medvedev arrives eighth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and chasing a return to the Nitto ATP Finals after missing qualification last year for the first time since 2019. His US Open ended in the fourth round against Frances Tiafoe.
Rublev, the world No. 25, won two of five matches across the North American hard-court swing and is chasing a 19th tour-level title and a second of the season, after winning on clay in Bastad in July.
Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Quentin Halys are seeded third and fourth. Halys took eventual US Open champion Alexander Zverev to five sets in the second round at Flushing Meadows earlier this month. Adolfo Daniel Vallejo is the fifth seed, with Fabian Marozsan, Jaime Faria and Kamil Majchrzak also seeded.
In doubles, Halys pairs with Lucas Miedler for the first time as top seeds, in a draw that also includes Petr Nouza and Neil Oberleitner, and Francisco Cabral and JJ Tracy.
The Chinese contingent
Three Chinese players are in the singles main draw, led by Zhang Zhizhen and Buyunchaokete. Zhang has beaten Buyunchaokete in each of their past two meetings in Hangzhou, including the 2024 semi-final — the first all-Chinese semi-final in ATP Tour history. Wild card Cui Jie opens against Vallejo.
How the week opens
The ATP’s published order of play for the opening days has Aleksandar Vukic against Kyrian Jacquet and Valentin Royer against Adam Walton in the first round on Centre Court, with second-round qualifying running alongside: Alex Bolt against Akira Santillan, Bernard Tomic against Fajing Sun, Taro Daniel against Hiroki Matsuoka, and Dalibor Svrcina against Rio Noguchi.
Royer is the reason to look twice at that schedule. He reached last year’s final here as a qualifier. We covered the draw and Royer’s route back when it was made.
Past champions
Two editions, two very different weeks.
2024 — Marin Cilic d. Zhang Zhizhen 7-6(5), 7-6(5). Cilic came in as a wild card ranked No. 777, playing his first tour-level event since Buenos Aires in February of that year after months lost to a knee injury, and left as the lowest-ranked champion in ATP Tour history since 1990. Neither man was broken. Cilic hit 34 winners to Zhang’s 26 and simply played the two tie-breaks better. It was his 21st tour-level title and his first since 2021. “Thank you to my family, my boys, my wife,” he said at the ceremony.
2025 — Alexander Bublik d. Valentin Royer 7-6(4), 7-6(4). Bublik did not lose serve all week, joining Taylor Fritz as the only men that season to win a title without dropping serve. He hit 21 aces in the final, saved both break points he faced, and won in one hour and 51 minutes. The title took him to a career-high No. 16 and was his first on outdoor hard courts. Royer, playing his first tour final after coming through qualifying and beating top seed Rublev in the second round, rose to a career-high No. 75.
Bublik is not defending the title. He is in London this week, named to the Team World roster for the Laver Cup alongside Alex de Minaur, Taylor Fritz, Learner Tien, Francisco Cerundolo and Brandon Nakashima. Royer, the man he beat in the final, is the one who came back.
What the winner gets
An ATP 250 champion earns 250 ranking points. Global Tennis News could not verify the full round-by-round points and prize-money breakdown for the 2026 edition from a primary source and has left it out rather than reproduce an unofficial table.
How to follow it
The ATP publishes live results, draws and the daily order of play on its tournament pages, and broadcast listings on its TV schedule. Global Tennis News could not confirm territory-by-territory broadcasters for the 2026 edition from a primary source and has not listed any.
Where it sits in the calendar
Hangzhou and Chengdu open the men’s Asian swing. From here the tour moves to the ATP 500s in Tokyo and Beijing, then to the Masters 1000 in Shanghai. Our guides: Japan Open, China Open, Shanghai Masters. For the shape of the whole stretch, see The Asian Swing Explained.
