Five Players Receive Shanghai Masters Wild Cards

The 2025 Shanghai Masters is the penultimate Masters 1000 on the ATP calendar and is scheduled to begin on October 1st.

There is a buzz ahead of the tournament with 20-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer expected to return to the event in a playing capacity this year. The singles draw will feature a 96-player field, headed by World No. 1 Carlos Alcaraz.

Defending champion Jannik Sinner can keep his hopes of reclaiming top spot alive, while Novak Djokovic has committed to playing for the first time since the US Open. As many as ten players can boost their qualification chances for the ATP Finals. The tournament recently announced the list of wild card entrants, which features four home players and a three-time Grand Slam champion.

Five Players Receive Shanghai Masters Wild Cards

After being snubbed of a US Open wild card, three-time Major champion Stan Wawrinka received one for the Shanghai Masters. He is a two-time quarterfinalist in this tournament, but lost in the second round when he competed in Shanghai last season. Wawrinka withdrew from the St. Tropez Challenger before his semifinal match less than a week ago and will need to recover in time to play in his first Masters since Monte Carlo.

Fresh from his stunning win over Daniil Medvedev, China’s Yibing Wu has been granted a main draw wild card. The 25-year-old reached the third round in Shanghai when he played there last season and needs another good week this year to avoid slipping further in the rankings.

Juncheng Shang’s start to the Asian swing has not gone to plan, with the 20-year-old losing in the second round of his title defense in Chengdu. Shang failed to make up for lost points in Beijing after falling to Arthur Cazaux in the first round. But the southpaw has a wild card in Shanghai and will be keen to impress.

Another 20-year-old home player will be Yi Zhou. He registered his first main draw win in Shanghai last year (helped by Yoshihito Nishioka’s retirement). Zhou was a quarterfinalist when he competed at the Shanghai Challenger earlier this month, although it is highly unlikely he’ll replicate that result at the Masters just yet.

Completing the list of Shanghai wild cards is former Chinese No. 1 Zhizhen Zhang. The 28-year-old has battled a troublesome shoulder injury for most of this season and made his competitive return to action for the first time in six months in Hangzhou. After beating compatriot Bu Yunchaokete, Zhang has since lost back-to-back matches (the other being in Beijing).