Follow us on Google Discover The penultimate ATP Masters 1000 tournament of the season has provided an incredibly heartwarming story, but, unfortunately, it has also highlighted the biggest problem men’s tennis faces in 2025.
Following Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal and Jannik Sinner’s third-round retirement, the draw in Shanghai was blown wide open, with the rest of the field handed a golden opportunity.
Stars like Felix Auger-Aliassime and Holger Rune looked to close in on a spot in the year-end ATP Finals, while the likes of Alexander Zverev and Daniil Medvedev had the chance to get their careers back on track.
Somehow, the final of the Shanghai Masters was ultimately contested by world number 54 Arthur Rinderknech and his cousin, an unheralded Monegasque qualifier, Valentin Vacherot, ranked 204th.
Photo by Lintao Zhang/Getty ImagesThe Shanghai Masters has highlighted WTA’s superiority
The sport will always benefit from seeing different faces in the final every week, but to have nobody ranked inside the top 50 make it to a Masters 1000 final truly underpins the lack of consistency, outside of Sinner and Alcaraz, on the ATP Tour currently.
Look no further than the ‘Race to Turin’ to see just how inconsistent men’s tennis is right now, where 38-year-old Novak Djokovic has the third-most qualification points for the ATP Finals, despite having played just 12 tournaments this season, nine less than fourth-placed Zverev.
Prior to the 2025 Shanghai Masters, the only player in the last two years to win a tournament that both Sinner and Alcaraz featured in was Andrey Rublev, who did so at the Madrid Open in 2024.
Compare this to the current landscape of the WTA Tour, where recently, top-ten stars Coco Gauff, Jessica Pegula, Aryna Sabalenka and Jasmine Paolini all featured in the Wuhan Open semifinals.
Photo by Wang He/Getty Images
Just over a week before, the final four of the China Open also included Gauff and Pegula, as well as world number four Amanda Anisimova.
Fans are beginning to notice the stark contrast between the two tours, with many claiming WTA now offers the superior product.
One X user stated: “WTA is in its consistency era, we love to see it. ATP tour is now completely inconsistent and unpredictable outside of Sinner and Alcaraz.”
Another fan said: “This is what I always say when ppl act like ATP is vastly superior now compared to WTA. If a finished 38-year-old who is injured half the time is your best bet outside the top 2, the tour is beyond pathetic.”
The general level of the atp is so low without sinner or Alcaraz at least in the wta if iga coco and Aryna lose early or withdraw we can count on the rest of the tour to peak and produce wonderful tennis
— 🦊🪩! (@yoncegauff) October 6, 2025
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This fan declared: “People are still stuck pre-2022. Ever since Iga broke out, the WTA has been the much better product, with Aryna and Iga being extremely consistent. ATP is unwatchable if Alcaraz, Sinner, and Novak aren’t playing.”
Similarly, one fan explained: “I just think ATP is absolutely dominated by two guys, while the WTA has a solid group of ~10-15 players that compete for big titles.”
mind you wta has a much more consistent tour the top 10 players are most of the times in the last four meanwhile atp has a 38 year old as the most consistent player after sincaraz. https://t.co/X1hVU7QzBH
— cherry (@kobzford) October 11, 2025
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The ATP Tour needs a stronger top ten
Even if a third star does not emerge to join Sinner and Alcaraz in a new ‘big three’, the ATP Tour needs a stronger top ten outside of the Spaniard and the Italian.
Tennis legend Boris Becker recently called out nine players, including Jack Draper, Taylor Fritz and Zverev, with the German saying it bothered him that they are satisfied with not being the best player in the world.
Becker’s comments, while maybe slightly harsh, are perhaps exactly what everyone not named Sinner or Alcaraz needs to hear.
The dominance of the ‘new two’ is certainly impressive, but if the 2025 season is a glimpse of what the future of the ATP Tour looks like, the women’s game will only continue to outperform the men’s.