The tennis season is nearing its climax, with the world’s best players currently in Asia, looking to end their years on a high. The men find themselves in Shanghai, while the women are in Wuhan, with the added ingredient of qualification for the ATP and WTA Finals making the next seven days more tantalising.
Here is our preview of this week’s action in the world of tennis.
The penultimate Masters 1000 tournament of 2026 rolls on in Shanghai, after it got underway last Wednesday. Valentin Vacherot was the shock winner here in 2025, beating his cousin, Arthur Rinderknech, in what was a remarkable story. He came through qualifying to lift the trophy, and was the lowest-ranked player to ever win a 1000 event (204th).
Top seed Alexander Zverev remains in the draw alongside seven-time Grand Slam champion Carlos Alcaraz, with the pair looking to win their first Masters title of the year.
With Jannik Sinner ending his season early, Zverev is set to become the world number one for the first time in the next few weeks, capping off a brilliant year that saw him capture his first two Grand Slam titles at Roland Garros and the US Open.
Alcaraz has just returned from a lengthy injury absence and reached the quarter-finals in New York while retaining his Tokyo title in his first two tournaments back.
Arthur Fils, Daniil Medvedev, Alex De Minaur, Rafa Jodar and Taylor Fritz will all be eyeing successful weeks, as they seek to secure qualification for the ATP Finals in November.
Some names who have already been eliminated: Ben Shelton, Flavio Cobolli, Frances Tiafoe and Novak Djokovic. The former fell in the third round to Arthur Gea, but his victory in the second round was enough to see him secure his spot at the ATP Finals.
The legendary Djokovic was coming off his 102nd career title in Beijing and, alongside Cobolli and Tiafoe, remains in a tussle to qualify for Turin in the coming weeks.
The women head to Wuhan for the final WTA 1000 event of 2026, with plenty of points on offer for those aiming to qualify for the WTA Finals. The tournament is without world number one Elena Rybakina, defending champion Coco Gauff, and new world number three Mirra Andreeva, all of whom withdrew due to various injury and fatigue issues.
As a result, three-time champion Aryna Sabalenka leads the field, alongside second seed Jessica Pegula.
Sabalenka has won in Wuhan three timesCns photo, CNSphoto / Alamy / Profimedia
Sabalenka hasn’t won a title since completing the ‘Sunshine Double’ at the Miami Open in March, and for the first time since 2022, she has no Grand Slams to her name, losing the world number one ranking in the process.
As it stands, Rybakina, Sabalenka, Andreeva, and Wimbledon champion Linda Noskova have confirmed their spots at the WTA Finals, while Gauff and Pegula have pretty much wrapped up qualification for the event at Indian Wells, too.
That leaves two spots available, with Elina Svitolina, Karolina Muchova, Marta Kostyuk and Iga Swiatek set to battle it out, making Wuhan an even more important tournament.
Svitolina and Muchova are the big favourites to make the final eight, while the other two know they probably have to win the title to have a chance.
Incredibly, Swiatek has qualified for the WTA Finals every single year since 2019, so her streak is at real risk of coming to an end.
Tolga Akdeniz is a global senior editor for Flashscore, specialising in football, basketball and tennis. Our resident Turkish football expert, he can often be found devouring the Super Lig. Tolga lives in London – you can follow him on X and YouTube, and read his latest features right here.