The ATP Tour’s Asian swing begins this week with a doubleheader in China, as the Chengdu Open and Hangzhou Open get underway. Running from September 23 to 29, Chengdu is an ATP 250 played on outdoor hard courts at the Sichuan International Tennis Center.
The tournament features a 28-player singles draw and $1,210,115 in prize money, with players looking to build momentum ahead of the bigger events in Beijing and Shanghai.
But Chengdu is also an interesting stop for another reason: the conditions can be very quick. The tournament has developed a reputation as one of the faster outdoor hard-court stops on the ATP calendar, making the serve and first-strike game particularly important.
Tournament Details
- Dates: September 23–29, 2026
- Location: Sichuan International Tennis Center, Chengdu, China
- Surface: Outdoor hard
- Category: ATP 250
- Singles draw: 28
- Prize money: $1,210,115
- Defending champion: Alejandro Tabilo
A Fast Court in the Heart of China
Looking at the tournament’s results from the last few years, the numbers point towards conditions that reward serving and aggressive first-strike tennis.
Across those three editions, the average figures were approximately:
- 74.0% of first-serve points won
- 81.9% of service games held
- 0.62 aces per game
Those numbers are useful indicators of how the tournament tends to play, although they are not a direct measurement of the physical court itself. Surface-speed comparisons are affected by factors including the players in the draw, weather, balls and altitude.
Chengdu itself sits at an average elevation of roughly 500 metres (1,640 feet) above sea level. That is high enough to have a small effect on air density compared with sea-level conditions.
For players, the practical takeaway is quite straightforward: serves can be rewarded, short points are common, and there is a premium on taking control early in rallies.
Players to watch
Valentin Vacherot
Valentin Vacherot leads the field as the No. 1 seed. The Monaco player enters the tournament at No. 19 in the rankings and we know he can reach high levels even though the consistency is not always there.
As the top seed, Vacherot receives a first-round bye and will face either a qualifier or Aleksandar Kovacevic in the second round.
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina
Alejandro Davidovich Fokina is the No. 2 seed and one of the biggest names in the draw. The Spaniard returns to competition after being sidelined since Umag in July with a back injury.
His season already includes a major milestone: Davidovich Fokina captured his first ATP Tour title in Mallorca earlier this year.
Alejandro Tabilo
Alejandro Tabilo returns as the defending champion and is seeded third.
The Chilean produced one of the most dramatic finishes of the 2025 tournament, defeating Lorenzo Musetti in a three-set final after saving two championship points. He will receive a first-round bye this year and begins his title defence in the second round.
Hubert Hurkacz and Denis Shapovalov
Two former Top-10 players are also in the field in Hubert Hurkacz and Denis Shapovalov.
Hurkacz is the No. 5 seed, while Shapovalov is seeded seventh. Both have the kind of aggressive games that can translate particularly well to quicker hard courts, making them names to watch as the tournament gets underway.
One of the biggest local storylines is Shang Juncheng (image above).
The Chinese left-hander won the first ATP Tour title of his career in Chengdu in 2024. Two years later, he returns to the same tournament as a wildcard.
“The conditions suit me with the fast court and slight altitude.” he commented after that win.
Shang opens against Adrian Mannarino, with the winner potentially facing defending champion Tabilo in the second round. That would give Chengdu the intriguing possibility of a meeting between its 2024 and 2025 champions.
Fellow Chinese players Zhou Yi and Hu Jia are also in the main draw as wildcards.
Moïse Kouamé Gets Another Big Opportunity
Another interesting name is Moïse Kouamé, the 17-year-old French prospect who has been given direct main-draw entry through the ATP Next Gen Accelerator program.
Kouamé has been one of the younger players to make an impression on the pro circuit this season and gets another opportunity to test himself against established tour-level opposition in Chengdu.
Recent Changes and Good First-Round Matches
There have been several changes to the field since the initial entry list.
Jan-Lennard Struff, Yannick Hanfmann, Roman Andrés Burruchaga and Thiago Agustín Tirante all withdrew from the tournament. Their places were subsequently taken by James Duckworth, Martin Damm, Aleksandar Kovacevic and Lorenzo Sonego, respectively.
The completed draw now gives us a number of interesting first-round matchups, including Shang Juncheng vs. Adrian Mannarino, James Duckworth vs. Lorenzo Sonego, Sebastian Baez vs. Jenson Brooksby, and Tallon Griekspoor vs. Denis Shapovalov.
