Carlos Alcaraz will begin his Rolex Shanghai Masters campaign against Juan Manuel Cerundolo or a qualifier, while top seed Alexander Zverev and four-time champion Novak Djokovic are in the same half of the draw at the ATP Masters 1000 event.
Alcaraz will make his third appearance in Shanghai, with his best result a quarter-final run in 2024. The second-seeded Spaniard is still alive at the ATP 500 event in Tokyo, where he will face Jaume Munar on Tuesday.
In Shanghai, Alcaraz could meet Ignacio Buse in the third round, 15th seed Tommy Paul or defending champion Valentin Vacherot in the fourth round and fifth seed Daniil Medvedev or 11th seed Taylor Fritz in the quarter-finals. Medvedev is currently on a seven-match winning streak. The former World No. 1 lifted his third trophy of the season in Hangzhou and will meet Djokovic in the semi-finals in Beijing on Tuesday.
Medvedev opens against Martin Landaluce or Jan-Lennard Struff in Shanghai, while Fritz plays Matteo Arnaldi or a qualifier. Defending champion Vacherot, who last year became the lowest-ranked (No. 204) Masters 1000 champion in series history, meets Sebastian Baez or Marcos Giron.
The No. 2 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Zverev will aim to bounce back from his quarter-final defeat to Djokovic in Beijing when he takes on Chinese wild card Wu Yibing or a qualifier in his first match in Shanghai. The German, who has won two majors in 2026, is in the same quarter as Flavio Cobolli and Alex de Minaur, while Djokovic is a potential semi-final opponent.
Djokovic will play 2023 champion Hubert Hurkacz or James Duckworth in his first match and could face 24th seed Lorenzo Musetti in the third round. Seventh seed Frances Tiafoe is a potential fourth-round opponent for the Serbian, with Ben Shelton the highest seed in the quarter. Shelton beat Tiafoe in the US Open semi-finals last month and the pair could renew their Lexus ATP Head2Head rivalry in Shanghai
Third seed and beaten US Open finalist Shelton begins against Holger Rune or Daniel Altmaier and could play Jakub Mensik in the fourth round. Rune made his return to the ATP Tour last week in Tokyo, where he lost in the first round to Kyrian Jacquet.
Fourth seed Felix Auger-Aliassime and eighth seed Arthur Fils are seeded to meet in the quarter-finals and are in the same half as Alcaraz. Auger-Aliassime begins against Camilo Ugo Carabelli or a qualifier, while Fils takes on Tallon Griekspoor or a qualifier.
Cobolli, Tiafoe, Fils, Medvedev, De Minaur, Djokovic, Rafael Jodar, Fritz, Mensik, Tommy Paul and Auger-Aliassime are currently fifth to 15th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and will all chase precious points this week in a bid to boost their respective chances of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals. There is a 1,165-point gap between Cobolli in fifth and Auger-Aliassime in 15th.
Jodar lost in the first round at the US Open and in Tokyo but will aim to rediscover his best level in Shanghai, starting against Thiago Agustin Tirante or Hamad Medjedovic.
