Jannik Sinner is set to begin his title defence at the Shanghai Masters after clinching his third title of the season in Beijing.
Sinner defeated Learner Tien in the China Open final to hoist his first trophy of the Asian swing, dominating the American teenager in straight sets.
Now, the Italian has his sights set on the penultimate ATP Masters 1000 event of the season, which he will enter as the first seed following Carlos Alcaraz’s withdrawal.
Ahead of the tournament, Sinner says there is a shot in his game he and his team have been working on ‘a lot’ since the US Open.
Jannik Sinner speaks ahead of the 2025 Shanghai Masters
“It was a very positive week, a great week,” said the world number two when assessing his China Open campaign.
“It had a lot of different kinds of challenges. Very tough opponents, tricky situations on the court. I feel like we tried to handle everything in the best possible way.
“Certain shots were working very well. Shots we have been working on a lot. You know, the serve was working slightly better.
“From the back of the court, trying to be slightly more unpredictable, worked a little bit better, but you know, now a new week is coming, a new challenge is coming up.
“First round matches are never easy, especially when you arrive from one tournament to another one and you have only one practice session ahead of you so let’s see how we handle that, but you know, generally talking I’m very happy.”
When asked what he has been trying to improve during the Asian swing, Sinner said: “Well, you know, you cannot do magic things in one week, but I feel like we’ve been working a lot on the serve.
“The serve was working slightly better at times, but you know it makes everything more exciting because you try to put, you know, new energy on the court.
“It bounced the whole team much better, which is also very nice, and everyone tried to do their best, and we also try to do it in actual matches, which is not easy to do.”
Jannik Sinner’s career record at the Shanghai Masters
This season, Sinner will make his third appearance at the Shanghai Masters, where he made his debut in 2023.
That year, he reached the fourth round before losing to 19th seed Ben Shelton in three sets, which marked his last defeat on hard court to a player ranked outside the top ten.
In 2024, Sinner enjoyed an incredible campaign at the competition, beating Shelton, Daniil Medvedev and Novak Djokovic to secure the crown.
His first-round opponent at the 2025 edition of the Shanghai Masters comes in the form of Daniel Altmaier.
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