The ATP Tour moves to Asia this week for one of the season’s biggest events, the 2026 Rolex Shanghai Masters. The ATP Masters 1000 tournament is held at the Qi Zhong Tennis Center in Shanghai, with qualifying taking place on October 5–6 and the main draw running from October 7–18.
Played on outdoor hard courts, Shanghai has traditionally produced great tennis and has long been one of the most popular stops on the ATP calendar. Last year we saw the incredible run by Valentin Vacherot to claim the title, the lowest ranked Masters champion ever.
Let’s look at some details ahead of the 2026 tournament.
Player Updates
The player field has changed a bit following the withdrawal of Jannik Sinner.
Sinner has not competed since winning Wimbledon in July, having been sidelined by a right knee injury that also forced him to miss the US Open and the Beijing tournament. His absence leaves Alexander Zverev as the top seed in Shanghai and opens up the race for valuable ranking points during the Asian swing.
Zverev arrives in really strong form and still has an opportunity to make further gains in the rankings, while several other leading players will be aiming to take advantage of an open-looking draw. Alcaraz will surely be one of the favorites here, showing decent form right away after the injury absence earlier.
Among the notable names in the field are:
- Alexander Zverev (Germany)
- Carlos Alcaraz (Spain)
- Novak Djokovic (Serbia)
- Daniil Medvedev (Russia)
- Taylor Fritz (USA)
- Alex de Minaur (Australia)
- Ben Shelton (USA)
- Felix Auger-Aliassime (Canada)
- Valentin Vacherot (Monaco), the defending champion
- Chinese players including Zhizhen Zhang, Bu Yunchaokete and Wu Yibing
Prize Money and Tournament Facts
As an ATP Masters 1000 event, Shanghai offers 1,000 ranking points to the champion.
- Total Prize Money: $9,415,725 USD
Shanghai Singles Prize Money for 2026:
| Round | Points | Prize Money |
| Champion | 1000 | $1,151,380 |
| Finalist | 650 | $612,340 |
| Semi-finalist | 400 | $340,190 |
| Quarter-finalist | 200 | $193,645 |
| Fourth Round | 100 | $105,720 |
| Third Round | 50 | $61,865 |
| Second Round | 30 | $36,110 |
| First Round | 10 | $23,760 |
- Surface: Outdoor hard court (DecoTurf)
- Official Ball: YONEX TOUR PLATINUM
- Tournament Director: Michael A. Luevano
Schedule
- Qualifying: October 5–6
- Main Draw: October 7–18
- Singles Final: Sunday, October 18
The tournament uses a 96-player singles draw, with the 32 seeded players receiving first-round byes. As always in Masters events, qualifiers and unseeded players can create difficult early-round matchups.
Venue and Fan Experience
The Qi Zhong Tennis Center remains one of the nicest venues on the tour, with its magnolia-shaped retractable roof.
Away from the courts, fans can enjoy hospitality areas, interactive activities, and attractions such as the ACE Pet Zone, which returns after its successful introduction last year.
With Sinner absent, the tournament has a slightly different look than expected, but the field remains strong and there are several interesting storylines to follow, including Zverev’s ranking ambitions, Vacherot’s title defence, and whether players such as Alcaraz, Medvedev or Djokovic can add another Shanghai title to their records.
