Carlos Alcaraz in Beijing; Iga in Tokyo; two Tuesday finals: an off-kilter Asian swing is underway

For the first time since the pandemic began in 2020, the Asian swing returns to tennis in full force, as the tours go back to China. That means a lot more money for the sport and its players—including $20 million worth in Beijing and Shanghai alone. For fans in the West, though, it means extra dedication to our craft. It’s not easy to keep track of matches and results that happen in the middle of the night.

This is especially true in 2023, when the first ATP tournaments in China are starting on odd days. Zhuhai and Chengdu have already reached the final-round stage, which will be played on Monday night. The men’s China Open, meanwhile, doesn’t begin until the Thursday the 28th.

Still, off-kilter or not, it’s a notable week: Iga Swiatek will join the Asian swing for the first time in her career, while Carlos Alcaraz will make his fall debut, and start his long uphill climb toward the year-end No. 1 ranking, in Beijing.

Chengdu Open (ATP)

• Chengdu, China
• $1,105,892; ATP 250
• Hard court
• Follow the final HERE

You can see the China effect, monetarily, right away in Chengdu. This is a 250, the lowest level on the ATP tour, yet it still offered more than a million dollars in prize money and guarantees. Alexander Zverev, Lorenzo Musetti, Grigor Dimitrov and Dan Evans were the Top 4 seeds, but two of them, Evans and Musetti, were knocked out by unseeded Roman Safiullin of Russia.

On Tuesday in China (Tuesday morning in the States), Zverev will take on Safiullin in the final. They’ve played once before, at Roland Garros in 2021, and Zverev won in three mostly-close sets. Can Safiullin beat his third seed of the week, or will Zverev, who is back in the Top 10, continue his methodical climb back into the tour’s upper reaches?

Huafa Properties Zhuhai Championships (ATP)

• Zhuhai, China
• $981,785; ATP 250
• Hard court
• Follow the final HERE

Zhuhai was worth a little less money than Chengdu, and had a less-imposing draw. Karen Khachanov, Cam Norrie, Jan-Lennard Struff and Sebastian Korda were the Top 4 seeds.

Khachanov, who has been away due to injury for much of 2023, made the final, where he’ll face No. 8 seed Yoshihito Nishioka on Tuesday. Khachanov leads their head-to-head 3-1; the last time they played, at the Australian Open this year, the Russian won the first two sets 6-0, and the third in a tiebreaker. Nishioka, who turns 28 this week, won’t have the luxury of two bagel sets this time.

Toray Pan Pacific Open (WTA)

• Tokyo
• $780,637; WTA 500
• Hard court
• Draw is HERE

It’s easy to forget how young Swiatek is, but this week we get a reminder: the 22-year-old has never played the WTA’s Asian swing. Her only previous appearance on the continent came at the Tokyo Olympics in 2021.

This week, Swiatek returns to Tokyo, before making her debut in China. She leads a strong field that includes fellow Top 20ers Jessica Pegula, Maria Sakkari, Caroline Garcia, Daria Kasatkina and Liudmilla Samsonova. Pegula is close to clinching a spot in the WTA Finals in Cancun, while Sakkari, after her 1000 title in Guadalajara last week, is now in the hunt.

As of last week, the field also included Elena Rybakina, but she pulled out, saying her “body wasn’t ready.” The No. 3 seed’s withdrawal maybe, possibly, also had something to do with the fact that she wasn’t granted a bye. Those went to Sakkari and Garcia, both of whom played late into last week in Guadalajara; Sakkari won the title, and Garcia made the semis. Rybakina let the tour and the world know that she wasn’t pleased about it. And then she left town.

China Open (ATP)

• Beijing
• $3,633,875; ATP 500
• Hard court

The men’s side of the Asian swing takes a step upward, money-wise and points-wise, when the China Open kicks off on Thursday. The ATP side of this dual-gender event is a 500, and has a $3.3 million purse. Most important, it also has Alcaraz for the first time.

The world No. 2 skipped Davis Cup and Laver Cup to get himself ready for the final stretch of the season, when he’ll try to track down Novak Djokovic for the year-end No. 1 ranking. Alcaraz is roughly 3,000 points behind Djokovic at the moment, but with the Serb skipping the Asian swing, the Spaniard will have a chance to cut into that lead.

Winning the title won’t be a cake walk. A host of his fellow Top 10 players are also scheduled to appear, including Daniil Medvedev, who beat Alcaraz at the US Open, Casper Ruud, Holger Rune, Jannik Sinner and Stefanos Tsitsipas.

Look for the draw on Tuesday.

Ningbo Open (WTA)

• Ningbo, China
• $259,303; WTA 250
• Hard court
• Draw is HERE

Tokyo offers more points and prize money, and has the better draw, but the 250 in Ningbo manages to hold its own. Ons Jabeur is the top seed, followed by Petra Kvitova and US Open standout Sorana Cirstea.

Jabeur took a wild card into this event, and she can use the points. Right now she stands at No. 8 in the race to the eight-woman WTA Finals. She’s a couple hundred points behind Karolina Muchova, and 300 ahead of the suddenly surging Sakkari.

Astana Open (ATP)

• Astana, Kazakhstan
• $1,093,360; ATP 250
• Hard court

In 2022, Astana looked like a tournament on the rise. It was a 500, and ended with a final between Novak Djokovic and Daniil Medvedev. A year later, with the return of the Chinese tournaments, it has come down in the world a bit. It’s a 250 now, and the Top 5 seeds are Tallon Griekspoor, Sebastian Baez, Alexander Bublik, Jiri Lehecka and Sebastian Korda.