The Shanghai Masters, also known as the Shanghai Rolex Masters because of sponsorship reasons, is one of the most prestigious ATP Masters 1000 tournaments, and in the calendar, it's the penultimate ATP Masters 1000 event of the year, held just before the Paris Masters.
The tournament was founded only in 2009, but already between 2009 and 2013, it was awarded the ATP Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year award for its high level of organization. Every year, the tournament is played at the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in Shanghai, China, after the venue previously successfully hosted the Tennis Masters Cup from 2005 to 2008.
Between 2020 and 2022, the tournament was not held because of the COVID-19 pandemic, but it returned to the calendar with the 12th edition in 2023, and like every time before, the tournament proved to be a real success.
Since its first edition in 2009, it has been a tournament dominated by three of the four most successful men in recent history. The inaugural edition was won by Nikolay Davydenko, who bested Rafael Nadal in the final, but since then until 2018, Novak Djokovic has won the tournament four times, Andy Murray three times, and Roger Federer twice.
It was another Russian, Daniil Medvedev, who stopped their dominance in 2019 after Murray lost in the second round, Djokovic was eliminated in the quarterfinals, and Federer lost in the same round to the eventual finalist, Alexander Zverev.
It was also the last edition between a three-year hiatus when the competition was not held, but when it returned in 2023, it once again attracted large crowds, as Hubert Hurkacz became the first champion of the 2020s.
