Shanghai is fond of Wawrinka, ZZZ young player faces tough opponents, 11 Chinese women compete in doubles, Shapovalov exits in first round after marriage.

In just three minutes daily, get to know the world of tennis. Hello tennis fans, today is Thursday, September 25, 2025. Welcome to the midday news report provided by "Tennis Home."

Last night Beijing time, the ATP1000 Shanghai Rolex Masters released the list of wildcards for the singles main draw. Of the five wildcards, four went to local players: Shang Juncheng, Zhang Zhizhen, Wu Yibing, and Zhou Yi. The remaining wildcard was given to Swiss veteran Wawrinka, making him the only foreign player to receive a singles main draw wildcard at the Shanghai Masters.

At 40 years old, Wawrinka is the oldest singles player in this tournament. He has competed in Shanghai 11 times before and is very popular among Chinese fans, which may be one reason he received the wildcard. However, his performance in Shanghai has not been outstanding, with only two quarterfinal appearances. The three doubles main draw wildcards were awarded to Zhang Zhizhen/Shang Juncheng, Bouzirokt/Korda, and Popyrin/Royyal.

Let's turn our attention to the China Open. Last night Beijing time, the ATP500 China Open concluded its singles qualifying rounds, with successful players advancing and the main draw updated accordingly. Fans noticed that the two Chinese players entering via wildcard, Zhang Zhizhen and Shang Juncheng, both face tough opponents, making their first-round matches highly challenging.

ZZZ's opponent is Frenchman Arthaud, who reached the semifinals at this year's Cincinnati Masters by defeating Denmark's top player Rune in straight sets, showing strong hard-court skills. Shang's opponent is another Frenchman, Kazar, 23 years old, who reached the Australian Open round of 16 last year and is known for his powerful serve and baseline play, making him a tough competitor. Adding to this, Bouzirokt faces German Deminal, so all three Chinese players have difficult first-round matches with significant challenges to advance.

Today at 11 a.m. Beijing time, the ATP500 China Open will officially begin. Zhang Zhizhen is scheduled to play around 2:30 p.m. Beijing time against Arthaud. Let's wish the three Chinese players the best of luck!

ATP500 Tokyo: In the singles first round matches held yesterday Beijing time, Hungarian star Fucsovics came back from a set down to defeat American youngster Tiafer with scores 3-6, 6-1, 7-5; newlywed Canadian star Shapovalov had an unlucky start, losing to German Altmaier 7-5, 6-3; Portuguese player Borges reversed a loss in the first set to beat Japan's Mieno Yosuke 2-6, 6-4, 6-1, successfully passing his debut match.

Now let's focus on the women's court. Yesterday afternoon to evening Beijing time, the WTA1000 China Open completed its first day of competition. Among the three Chinese players competing that day, only veteran Zhang Shuai won and advanced, while the younger players Shi Han and Zhang Rui'en were eliminated in the first round. Zhang Shuai overcame qualifier Zakharova 3-6, 6-1, 6-4 and will face Wang Xinyu in a Chinese derby in the second round.

Other winners advancing include Sevastova, Polina Kudermetova, Bondar, Buzkova, Kostya, Ruzici, Bolt, McNally, Lis, Kessler, Krejcikova, Volynets, Han Tianyu, Sakkari, and Rakhimova. Starting at noon Beijing time today, the top half of the singles draw first round matches will begin, featuring Chinese women Zhu Lin, Yuan Yue, Wang Yafan, Wei Sijia, Wang Xiyu, and Guo Hanyu. Wishing them all good luck!

Additionally, the China Open women's doubles draw has just been released, with 11 Chinese female players forming six pairs. First round matchups are: Zhang Shuai/Muradnovic vs. Han Tianyu/Muhova, Shao Yushan/Zhang Rui'en vs. Muhammad/Shuls, Kudermetova/Mertens vs. Tang Qianhui/Wang Xiyu, Xu Yifan/Yang Zhaoxuan vs. Krug/Pegula, Jiang Xinyu/Zhan Haoqing vs. Hsieh Su-wei/Ostapenko, Guo Hanyu/Panova vs. Rakhimova/Sigmund.

Finally, let's play a guessing game. The photo below is a portrait of a player. Without any hints, can you recognize who she is?

In the previous guessing game, some fans gave the correct answer. That's right, the person in the photo is the French player Mute.

(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Maverick)