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Title winners
Starting in Shanghai, it was a remarkable run to the prestigious Masters 1000 title for Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, with the Spaniard coming from behind to beat compatriot Rafael Jodar 1-6, 7-6(5), 6-4 in Sunday’s final.
Having been swept aside in a 27-minute opening set, Davidovich Fokina showed incredible nerve to edge the second-set tiebreak, before eventually outlasting his tiring opponent in the decider to claim the biggest title of his career.
Victory capped a week of thrilling comebacks for the Spaniard, who saved a match point against Frances Tiafoe in the third round, while he also recovered from a set down to defeat both Hubert Hurkacz and top seed Alexander Zverev.
"I don’t have any words right now," Davidovich Fokina said after the final. "I have a blank mind. I don’t know what to say and I don’t know how I feel. Just a huge relief."
Having lost his first five tour-level finals, Davidovich Fokina was in danger of becoming one of the ATP’s ‘nearly men’. However, the 27-year-old has completely transformed that narrative in 2026, winning three finals in a row after title runs in Mallorca and Chengdu.
The Spaniard demonstrated his newfound belief in Sunday’s victory over Jodar, saving eight of 12 break-point opportunities to extend his winning streak in China to 10 matches since a two-month layoff due to a back injury.
As a result of his Shanghai Masters title, Davidovich Fokina is up to a career-high 13 in the world, while Jodar moves two spots up to world number 11, as the 20-year-old gains valuable ground in his bid to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals in Turin.
Over in Wuhan, Maja Chwalinska proved her breakthrough run to the French Open final earlier this year was no fluke, with the Pole defeating Sonay Kartal 2-6, 6-4, 6-2 in the showpiece event to capture her maiden career title.
In a final no one could have predicted, it was 170th-ranked Kartal who settled first to dominate the opening exchanges, but 16th seed Chwalinska rallied in a tight second set to ultimately prevail in two hours and 46 minutes.
The 25-year-old, who beat Iva Jovic, Maria Sakkari and compatriot Iga Swiatek en route to the final, proved too strong for Kartal in the key moments, using her incredible variation to win four straight games at the end of the match to clinch victory on her third championship point.
"It means a lot. It tastes very sweet, I (must) admit," Chwalinska said in the post-match interview. "I feel like I still don't realise that I won.
"But it feels special because after the French Open, it was obviously amazing, but then I had some tough moments. I feel like people also were very rough towards me."
Having sensationally reached the Roland Garros final as a qualifier in June, Chwalinska endured a difficult summer, with first-round exits at Wimbledon and the US Open. However, she has regained her form and fitness during the Asian swing, winning nine of her last 11 matches in Singapore, Beijing and Wuhan.
Chwalinska is just the third Polish player to win a WTA 1000 crown after Swiatek and Agnieszka Radwanska, while she also becomes only the fourth player on the WTA Tour since the format’s introduction in 2009 to claim her maiden title at the 1000 level.
The result has elevated the Pole to a career-high 11 in the updated rankings, while Kartal (the lowest-ever ranked finalist in a WTA 1000 event) has risen a remarkable 121 places up to world number 49.
Biggest strugglers
Flavio Cobolli fell to a fourth successive defeat on tour after losing his opening match in Shanghai to experienced Frenchman Adrian Mannarino, 1-6, 6-4, 3-6.
Seeded sixth at the Masters 1000 tournament, the Italian struck 42 unforced errors in yet another disjointed display, as his form continues to fluctuate since reaching the French Open final earlier this year.
Second seed Carlos Alcaraz, US Open runner-up Ben Shelton, and mercurial Frenchman Arthur Fils were among the other notable names to suffer early exits in Shanghai.
Meanwhile, in Wuhan, top seed and three-time former champion Aryna Sabalenka fell to another shock defeat, with the Belarusian losing 6-3, 4-6, 6-7(5) to American Ann Li.
Sabalenka, who lost her number one ranking to Elena Rybakina last month, has failed to win a title since March, and she once again flattered to deceive against Li, who clinched the biggest win of her career on her 10th (!) match point.
In a tournament packed full of upsets, Jessica Pegula, Belinda Bencic and Marta Kostyuk also exited before the third-round stage.
Standout moment
After six months on the sidelines with a back injury sustained at Indian Wells, Kartal marked just her third tournament back with an eye-catching run to her biggest-ever final.
The Brit knocked out a series of high-quality opponents at the WTA 1000 event in Wuhan, including ninth seed Bencic and world number six Elina Svitolina, before falling narrowly short to Chwalinska in Sunday’s showpiece.
"In the first month or so, I was at home in bed - sometimes I had good days but there were also bad days where I wasn't really able to walk without some form of pain," Kartal explained.
The 24-year-old collected 650 points as the runner-up in Wuhan, seeing her ranking skyrocket from 170th in the world to a place inside the top 50.
Furthermore, Kartal became the first British player to reach a WTA 1000 final since Johanna Konta in 2019, and with her improved ranking giving her direct entry into tournaments such as the Australian Open, she can look ahead to 2027 with plenty of optimism.
Best rallies
Davidovich Fokina came from behind to beat Zverev in the Shanghai semi-finals, with the Spaniard clinching the second set courtesy of a stunning passing shot down the line.
Jodar enjoyed another standout week in Shanghai, as the 20-year-old produced some excellent tennis, including this eye-catching rally in the quarter-finals against Casper Ruud.
Upcoming events
It's another important week on both tours, with plenty of star names taking to the court, as the race to qualify for tennis' season-ending ATP and WTA Finals continues.
Swiatek will be chasing the title in Ningbo in her pursuit of a place at Indian Wells next month, while world number one Rybakina, Kostyuk and Jovic make up a stacked draw.
With five spots still up for grabs in the race to reach the ATP Finals in Turin, Daniil Medvedev is in pole position to consolidate one of those, as he looks to defend his Almaty title in Kazakhstan.
Elsewhere, Cobolli, Taylor Fritz and Tommy Paul look to secure valuable points at the Lyon Open, while Fils headlines the ATP 250 tournament in Brussels.
