Novak Djokovic beat Alexander Zverev in the China Open quarterfinals on Sunday. On Monday the Rolex Shanghai Masters draw put the two of them back in the same half. With Jannik Sinner out, Zverev is the top seed in Shanghai, and Djokovic, a four-time champion here, is his projected semifinal opponent, according to the draw published by the ATP on the tournament website.
Djokovic opens against 2023 champion Hubert Hurkacz or James Duckworth. The road the draw lays out for him after that runs through 24th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the third round, seventh seed Frances Tiafoe in the fourth and third seed Ben Shelton, the highest seed in the quarter, who beat Tiafoe in the US Open semifinals last month.
Zverev, who has won two majors this year, starts against Chinese wild card Wu Yibing or a qualifier. His quarter also holds Flavio Cobolli and Alex de Minaur.
The bottom half belongs to second seed Carlos Alcaraz, making his third Shanghai appearance with a 2024 quarterfinal as his best result. He opens against Juan Manuel Cerundolo or a qualifier and is seeded to meet Ignacio Buse in the third round, 15th seed Tommy Paul or defending champion Valentin Vacherot in the fourth, and fifth seed Daniil Medvedev or 11th seed Taylor Fritz in the quarterfinals. Fourth seed Félix Auger-Aliassime and eighth seed Arthur Fils are seeded to meet in the other quarterfinal of that half.
The calendar squeeze. Djokovic, Medvedev and Alcaraz all still have tennis to play elsewhere before Shanghai’s main draw starts on Wednesday. Djokovic and Medvedev meet in the Beijing semifinals on Tuesday, and Alcaraz plays Jaume Munar in Tokyo the same day, according to the ATP. Each of the three opens in Shanghai against the winner of a first-round match, the bye that seeded players receive. Medvedev arrives on a seven-match winning streak after winning his third title of the season in Hangzhou, and opens against Martin Landaluce or Jan-Lennard Struff.
The defending champion. Vacherot won Shanghai last year as the No. 204 player in the world, the lowest-ranked Masters 1000 champion in the history of the series, according to the ATP. This time he opens against Sebastian Baez or Marcos Giron, with Alcaraz projected in the round after Paul.
Openers worth watching. Shelton begins against Holger Rune or Daniel Altmaier. Rune returned to the tour last week in Tokyo and lost in the first round to Kyrian Jacquet. Shelton could face Jakub Mensik in the fourth round. Rafael Jodar, who lost in the first round at the US Open and in Tokyo, starts against Thiago Agustin Tirante or Hamad Medjedovic. Fritz plays Matteo Arnaldi or a qualifier, Auger-Aliassime plays Camilo Ugo Carabelli or a qualifier, and Fils plays Tallon Griekspoor or a qualifier.
Qualifying. Forty-eight players began qualifying on Monday for 12 places in the main draw, according to the tournament. Qualifying ends on Tuesday.
What is at stake. Cobolli, Tiafoe, Fils, Medvedev, De Minaur, Djokovic, Jodar, Fritz, Mensik, Paul and Auger-Aliassime are fifth to 15th in the ATP’s live Race to Turin, with 1,165 points between Cobolli and Auger-Aliassime, and Shelton is next in line to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, according to the tournament. Zverev’s loss in Beijing also closed the route to No. 1 that ran through this fortnight: as GTN set out when Sinner withdrew, Zverev needed both the Beijing and Shanghai titles to reach the top of the rankings when Shanghai ends.
The main draw runs from 7 to 18 October. Dates, points and past champions are in the Shanghai Masters guide.
