Top seeds reign supreme in Shanghai and Wuhan
©Hector Retamal / AFPAfter winning the Australian Open, Cincinnati, and the US Open, Jannik Sinner and Aryna Sabalenka have once again shared the spotlight this season, both lifting trophies on Sunday in Shanghai and Wuhan respectively.
Here’s what you may have missed from the week gone by on the ATP and WTA Tours.
Facing Novak Djokovic on any day is already a colossal challenge. Imagine what it’s like facing him with legends like Roger Federer and Juan Carlos Ferrero and your fiercest rival Carlos Alcaraz all watching from the stands.
That didn’t stop Sinner, though, from posting a 7-6(4), 6-3 victory over Djokovic in the Shanghai Masters final on Sunday, denying the Serb a chance to clinch a 100th career title.
“There are three legends in the stands, and I played against one legend, so I see legends everywhere. I just try to keep up a little bit,” said Sinner with a laugh during the trophy ceremony.
“Today was a very special day because, you know, different circumstances,” he later added in his press conference. “Having Roger in the stands, and Carlos, and Juan Carlos, and the atmosphere has been very, very great.
“Playing against Novak in a final is always very, very tough, so I'm happy how I handled these kind of situations, and, yeah, very happy to hold this trophy here.”
Coming off of a final defeat to Alcaraz in Beijing the week before, Sinner rebounded nicely, dropping just one set through six matches in Shanghai, to secure his seventh title of the season and 17th overall.
The 23-year-old Italian faced zero break points and fired eight aces against Djokovic in the one-hour 37-minute final to become the youngest champion – and first Italian champion – in tournament history.
Sinner improved to a tour-leading 65-6 win-loss record for the season (45-3 on hard courts) and has secured the year-end No.1 ranking by virtue of reaching the Shanghai final.
“It's a good feeling. I'm very happy to achieve this. It was an amazing season for me, and it's not finished yet,” said Sinner.
“Being No.1 in the world at the end of the year, it was only a dream just to become No.1, now finishing it, it's also a different feeling.”
Sinner is now 4-4 head-to-head against Djokovic, who has lost four of his last five meetings with the Italian.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion suffered his first ever defeat in a Shanghai final, having entered his clash with Sinner a perfect 4-0 in championship matches at the event.
Djokovic, who faced some knee issues in the quarters and semis in Shanghai, was pleased with how he performed against Sinner, and said he takes positives from his week overall.
“That gives me, I guess, reason to believe that I can still play with these guys that are best in the world at this level,” said the 37-year-old.
“Hopefully I can maintain that level in the upcoming months, and also for the future.”
His runner-up showing has moved him up to No.6 in the ATP Race to Turin. Still seeking qualification, Djokovic is a seven-time ATP Finals champion, and has won the event the last two years.
“My main motivation comes from love and passion for the sport, and also the desire to keep competing. These are kind of the matches and challenges that I still strive for, to be in a position to play against the best players in the world, on the biggest stage, in the finals of some of the biggest tournaments in the world,” said Djokovic, whose sole title this year came in sensational fashion at the Olympic Games in Paris.
“I don't know what the future brings, I'll just try to kind of go with the flow to see how I feel in a given moment. I still plan to compete and play next season and, yeah, let's see how far I go.”
About 850km west of Shanghai, Sabalenka became the first three-time champion in Wuhan Open history with a hard-fought 6-3, 5-7, 6-3 win over hometown hero Zheng Qinwen.
The week was historic in more ways than one as Zheng and her compatriot Wang Xinyu squared off in the semi-finals, marking the first time two Chinese players reached the last-four stage at the same WTA 1000 tournament.
Zheng, who was born in the Hubei province and moved to the city of Wuhan as a child, is the first ever Chinese finalist at the event.
The 22-year-old had never taken a set off of Sabalenka in any of their three previous meetings – in fact she had never even broken her serve – but put up a valiant effort on Sunday, forcing a decider and pushing the top seed to her limits.
Zheng drew capacity crowds of 13,000 people to her matches, which even led Sabalenka to thank her for winning the Olympic gold medal and popularising tennis in China.
“It's definitely a huge season for the Chinese players. It's more players in top 100. Qinwen winning the Olympics, making the finals of the Australian Open, finals here. Definitely tennis getting bigger in China. It's really nice to see,” said Sabalenka.
The 26-year-old Sabalenka has never lost a match in Wuhan and improved her record there to 17-0.
She has now moved up to No.1 in the Race to the WTA Finals, and the battle for the year-end No.1 ranking between Sabalenka and Iga Swiatek will be settled at the season finale in Riyadh.
“That's a really tight ranking right now. Really nice to see,” said Sabalenka, who is less than 100 point behind Swiatek in the world rankings.
“I always say of course it's one of the goals, but I prefer to focus on myself and just keep working hard. We'll see after the Finals if I was good enough this season to become world No.1.”
Meanwhile, Zheng has moved up to No.7 in the Race and is on the brink of becoming the first Chinese player to qualify for the WTA Finals since Li Na in 2013.
The Australian Open runner-up said she is thrilled to have made her first WTA 1000 final, despite feeling unwell and sustaining a fever twice in the last two weeks.
“It's hard to say what my performance will be at the Finals, but I will put in 100 percent,” said Zheng, who will be the cover star for Vogue China’s November issue – a first for any Chinese athlete.
ROLAND-GARROS
19 May - 8 June 2025
