20 Things To Watch In Beijing & Tokyo

The ATP World Tour’s Asian swing continues with a pair of 500-level events: the China Open and the Rakuten Japan Open Tennis Championships 2017. Six of the Top 10 in the Emirates ATP Rankings are competing this week, with World No. 1 Rafael Nadal leading the way in Beijing and Wimbledon finalist Marin Cilic the top seed in Tokyo.

View Draws: Beijing | Tokyo

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN BEIJING

(1) Race is On: With 500 points on the line at the China Open, the Emirates ATP Race To London is heating up. World No. 1 and Nitto ATP Finals qualifier Rafael Nadal leads a field full of contenders. Pablo Carreno Busta is near the London cut at No. 8 in the Race, but six other players in the Beijing draw are within 1,000 points of the Spaniard, including countryman Roberto Bautista Agut.

(2) Top of the World: Nadal returns to the China Open for the fifth straight season and 12 years after winning the title as a teenager. In the first round, the reigning Roland Garros and US Open champion meets Lucas Pouille, who defeated him in a fifth-set tie-break at the 2016 US Open.

(3) Race To Milan: Alexander Zverev is next in line to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals and the only player who has already qualified for the Next Gen ATP Finals. Zverev is joined in Beijing by fellow #NextGenATP players Andrey Rublev, Karen Khachanov and Jared Donaldson. After becoming the youngest US Open quarter-finalist since 2001, Rublev has risen to No. 2 in the Emirates ATP Race To Milan.

(4) Best of the Next: Zverev, the No. 2 seed, is tied with Nadal and Roger Federer for the ATP lead with five titles in 2017. On 11 September, Zverev became the youngest player in the Top 5 since Novak Djokovic on 8 October 2007. The 20-year-old German is just 2-3 in his last five matches.

(5) History Makers: On 20 August in Cincinnati, Grigor Dimitrov beat Nick Kyrgios in the first ATP World Tour Masters 1000, Nitto ATP Finals or Grand Slam final between players born in the 1990s. Kyrgios is making his Beijing debut, while Dimitrov returns after advancing to the 2016 China Open final.

(6) Spain’s New Star: Carreno Busta reached his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros and semi-final at US Open. The 26 year old has achieved a new career-high in the Emirates ATP Rankings 18 times since the start of the 2016 season, breaking into the Top 10 on 11 September.

(7) What a Run: Damir Dzumhur, a special exempt in Beijing, is 18-4 on tour since 31 July with a third-round run at the US Open, semi-finals at Los Cabos and Shenzhen, his first final at Winston-Salem and his first title at St. Petersburg. Dzumhur defeated Zverev in the Shenzhen quarter-finals.

(8) Chinese Duo: Di Wu, 26, and Ze Zhang, 27, received wild cards. Wu is 0-6 in main draw and qualifying matches at the China Open, including a loss to Zhang in 2012. Zhang then beat Richard Gasquet in the second round and remains the only Chinese quarter-finalist in tournament history.

(9) Wildest Card: Juan Martin del Potro will make his Beijing debut as a wild card. The Argentine advanced to the semi-finals at the US Open, where he rallied from two sets down against Dominic Thiem and upset Federer at night on Arthur Ashe Stadium before falling in four sets to Nadal.

(10) Top 2 Teams in Beijing: Wimbledon champions Lukasz Kubot and Marcelo Melo lead Australian Open champions Henri Kontinen and John Peers by 1,260 points in the battle for year-end No. 1 doubles team. Kubot/Melo and Kontinen/Peers are the Top 2 doubles seeds at the China Open.

10 THINGS TO WATCH IN TOKYO

(1) The Race is On: With 500 points on the line at this week’s Rakuten Japan Open, the Emirates ATP Race To London is heating up. Top 2 seeds Marin Cilic and Dominic Thiem are on pace to qualify for the Nitto ATP Finals, while No. 5 seed Kevin Anderson and No. 6 seed Sam Querrey are battling near the cut. With Stan Wawrinka and Novak Djokovic out for the season, Querrey would be the last London qualifier if the season ended today. Anderson trails Querrey by 100 points.

(2) Cilic’s Challenge: Cilic reached his second Grand Slam final at Wimbledon and broke into the Top 5 of the Emirates ATP Rankings on 11 September. But the Croat is 7-8 on hard courts this season and 9-12 since defeating then-No. 1 Djokovic at the Masters 1000 in Paris on 4 November 2016.

(3) Early Exits: Only two men have reached the second week at all four Grand Slam events in 2017: Thiem and World No. 1 Rafael Nadal. However, Thiem has suffered losses in his first or second match at 10 ATP World Tour events this season. He fell to Guido Pella in his opener at Chengdu last week.

(4) Raonic’s Return: No. 3 seed Milos Raonic is back on the ATP World Tour after undergoing left wrist surgery and missing seven weeks. The Canadian has not played in Tokyo since finishing as the runner-up in 2012, 2013 and 2014. Raonic lost a first-set tie-break 7/5 in all three finals.

(5) Back in the Race: David Goffin was No. 6 in the Emirates ATP Race To London when he injured his right ankle at Roland Garros on 2 June. The Belgian missed six weeks and fell to No. 13, but he won his first title in three years on Sunday in Shenzhen. He trails Querrey by only 150 Race points.

(6) Comeback Kev: Since the start of 2016, Anderson has endured injuries to his ankle, elbow, groin, hip, knee and shoulder. He fell to No. 80 on 16 January 2017 and was No. 32 when he became the lowest-ranked US Open finalist in history. Anderson returned to the Top 15 on 11 September.

(7) Big Rivalry: The 6’8” Anderson and 6’6” Querrey have had one of the greatest rivalries of the season. Anderson avenged his five-set loss to Querrey at Wimbledon with wins at the Masters 1000 event in Montreal and the US Open. Their battle for a berth at the Nitto ATP Finals continues in Tokyo.

(8) Size of the Heart: Before Anderson made history as the tallest Grand Slam finalist in the Open Era, 5’7” Diego Schwartzman became the shortest Grand Slam quarter-finalist in 23 years. The No. 8 seed has posted a career-high 29 wins this season, including an upset of Cilic at the US Open.

(9) Career Year: With Kei Nishikori injured, all eyes in Tokyo are on No. 2 Asian Yuichi Sugita. The 29-year-old Japanese player is enjoying a breakthrough season with his first Masters 1000 quarter-final at Cincinnati and his maiden ATP World Tour semi-final, final and title at Antalya.

(10) US Open Final Rematch: No. 1 doubles seeds Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau will play a US Open final rematch against Feliciano Lopez and Marc Lopez in the Tokyo first round. Rojer and Tecau earned their second Grand Slam title on 8 September with a 6-4, 6-3 win over the Spaniards.