Sinner is out, Zverev is top seed, and Djokovic and Alcaraz arrive in Shanghai as champions

The Rolex Shanghai Masters starts on Wednesday 7 October with a 96-player draw and no Jannik Sinner. The world No. 1 withdrew on Saturday 3 October, and on Tuesday he said "the 2026 season is officially over". That makes Alexander Zverev the top seed and Carlos Alcaraz the second seed. The draw was made on Monday 5 October, and anything beyond the second round below is projected, because seeds can lose and players can still withdraw. In the UK, the tournament is on Sky Sports Tennis and NOW.

Zverev and Djokovic share a half

Zverev has a first-round bye and opens against the Chinese wild card Wu Yibing or a qualifier. His quarter includes Flavio Cobolli and Alex de Minaur. Novak Djokovic also has a bye and opens against Hubert Hurkacz or James Duckworth. He could meet 24th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the third round and seventh seed Frances Tiafoe in the fourth, with Ben Shelton, the third seed, the top seed in that quarter.

If the seeds hold, Zverev and Djokovic meet in the semi-finals. They played on Sunday in Beijing, where Djokovic came from a set down to win 4-6, 6-4, 6-4. Zverev won Roland-Garros and the US Open this year, but has never won in Shanghai. His best result is the 2019 final, which he lost to Daniil Medvedev.

Alcaraz has the other half

Alcaraz opens against Juan Manuel Cerúndolo or a qualifier. Ignacio Buse is a possible third-round opponent, Tommy Paul or Vacherot a possible fourth-round opponent, and Medvedev or Taylor Fritz a possible quarter-final opponent. Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and eighth seed Arthur Fils are seeded to meet in the other quarter of his half. Zverev and Alcaraz cannot meet before the final.

Alcaraz arrives after defending his Tokyo title on Tuesday, when he beat Jiri Lehecka 7-6(4), 6-4. It is his third Shanghai, and his best result is a quarter-final in 2024.

Defending champion and a four-time winner

The defending champion is Valentin Vacherot, not Sinner. Sinner won in 2024, and retired in the third round last year. Vacherot came through qualifying as the world No. 204 in 2025, and is the lowest-ranked Masters 1000 champion in the series' history. He opens against Sebastian Baez or Marcos Giron.

Djokovic won the title in 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2018. He comes here from Beijing, where he won a seventh China Open on Tuesday when Alex de Minaur retired in the final. Hurkacz retired from his semi-final in Beijing with an adductor injury, and De Minaur from the final, so check the official draw for changes.

The world No. 1 race

On the ATP list of 5 October, Sinner leads Zverev by 1,280 points, 11,000 to 9,720. By our count, a Shanghai title would not close that by the list of 19 October: Zverev would reach 10,670, and Sinner would be on 10,950 after dropping the 50 points he earned in Shanghai last year. With Sinner out for the rest of the year, the race now turns on the points he defends in Vienna, Paris and Turin.