The Shanghai Masters starts today, 7 October, and runs until 18 October. It is the last big ATP Masters 1000 event of the Asian swing, and if you follow tennis you will want to see it. Wherever you happen to live right now.
The setup: a 96-player main draw on outdoor hard courts at the Qizhong Tennis Center. The top 32 seeds get a bye straight into the second round, so not every big name shows up on day one. The first round runs from Wednesday 7 to Thursday 8 October.
Who is playing
Carlos Alcaraz headlines the field. Alexander Zverev arrives chasing the world number one spot, and that race is the story of the week. Novak Djokovic is in Shanghai too, a four-time champion there, hunting for match sharpness after Beijing.
One notable absence. Jannik Sinner pulled out before the tournament, deciding the schedule was too much. That changes the draw and opens a door for someone else.
The strange bit
Last year’s winner was Valentin Vacherot, who beat his own cousin, Arthur Rinderknech, in the final. It was the biggest title of his career and one of the oddest finals in recent memory. He is back to defend it, which nobody predicted twelve months ago.
How to watch when you are not in China
This is where it gets annoying for expats. Tennis coverage is a patchwork of national broadcasters and streaming deals. The channel showing the tournament in your home country is often not the one you can get where you live now. So you end up paying for two subscriptions, or missing the matches that start at awkward hours.
An IPTV setup fixes the boring part. You get the sports channels from back home in one place, on your TV, so time zones are the only thing left to plan around. Read the how it works page for the basics, and glance at plans if you want it sorted before the final weekend.
Worth remembering: this is a two-week event, so the matches you actually want are spread across quarter-finals on 15 and 16 October, the semis on 17 October and the final on 18 October. Plenty of tennis left if you set it up now.
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Related reading
- Watching Live Sports Abroad: Football, F1 and More
- Champions League Matchday 2: What Expats Should Watch