Scouting Report: Sinner, Alcaraz headline Beijing; Fritz, defending champ Shelton compete in Tokyo

pThe Asian swing is heating up, with excitement building as attention turns to two eagerly anticipated ATP 500 hard-court events in Beijing and Tokyo./p

pAfter clinching his second major crown at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a earlier this month, a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jannik-sinner/s0ag/overview'Jannik Sinner/a is back in action on the ATP Tour, bidding to successfully defend his title at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/beijing/747/overview'China Open/a against a stacked field that features a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-alcaraz/a0e2/overview'Carlos Alcaraz/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/daniil-medvedev/mm58/overview'Daniil Medvedev/a./p

pIn Tokyo, past champions a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/taylor-fritz/fb98/overview'Taylor Fritz/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/ben-shelton/s0s1/overview'Ben Shelton/a are among the contenders for the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/tokyo/329/overview'Kinoshita Group Japan Open Tennis Championships/a title./p

pATPTour.com looks at five things to watch at each event./p

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pstrongFIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN BEIJINGbr /

/strongstrong1) Sinnerrsquo;s title defence: /stronga href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/jannik-sinner/s0ag/overview'Jannik Sinner/a soared to glory at last yearrsquo;s a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/beijing/747/overview'China Open/a, defeating both Alcaraz and Medvedev as the sixth seed en route to the title. The Italian is now No. 1 in the PIF ATP Rankings, a two-time Grand Slam champion, and seemingly poised to successfully defend the title in Beijing./p

pstrong2) Will Alcaraz bounce back? /stronga href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/carlos-alcaraz/a0e2/overview'Carlos Alcaraz/a suffered a shocking defeat in the second round of the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a to a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/botic-van-de-zandschulp/v812/overview'Botic van de Zandschulp/a and, after helping guide Team Europe to glory at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/laver-cup/9210/overview'Laver Cup/a, the Spaniard will return to China with a point to prove. The 21-year-old sits third in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, 1,590 points ahead of Medvedev, and is pursuing his fourth title of the season./p

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pstrong3) Home hope Zhang: /strongChinese star a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/players/zhizhen-zhang/z371/overview" target="_blank"Zhang Zhizhen/a returns to Beijing for the first time since 2019, when he fell to eventual champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/dominic-thiem/tb69/overview'Dominic Thiem/a in the second round. The explosive 27-year-old is coming into the tournament fresh off the back of a deep run at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/hangzhou/4713/overview'Hangzhou Open/a, where he will play the final Tuesday, and offers plenty of hope for the home crowd. Other Chinese stars to watch will include #NextGenATP Shang Juncheng, who is competing in the Chengdu final Tuesday./p

pstrong4) Can Medvedev avenge 2023 defeat? /stronga href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/daniil-medvedev/mm58/overview'Daniil Medvedev/a fell short to Sinner in last yearrsquo;s thrilling final in Beijing, but the 28-year-old will be eager to rewrite the script this time around if they are to cross paths. After his triumph over Medvedev in the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a quarter-finals, Sinner has closed the gap to 6-7 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series./p

pstrong5) Koolhof/Mektic chasing Turin spot:/strong a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/wesley-koolhof/kc41/overview'Wesley Koolhof/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/nikola-mektic/mf09/overview'Nikola Mektic/a, who currently occupy ninth place in the PIF ATP Live Doubles Teams Rankings, find themselves within touching distance of an all-important spot at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a in Turin, but they will need to put points on the board as they kick off their Asia swing in Beijing./p

pstrongFIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN TOKYO/strong/p

pstrong1) Feel-good Fritz aiming for Turin:/strong a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/taylor-fritz/fb98/overview'Taylor Fritz/a will be hoping to maintain the form that propelled him into a maiden major final at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a. The 26-year-old, who is enjoying his best season on Tour, is fifth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and in strong contention to make his second appearance at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a. Fritz starts against #NextGenATP Frenchman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/arthur-fils/f0f1/overview'Arthur Fils/a in Tokyo./p

pstrongspan style="text-decoration: underline;"a rel="noopener noreferrer" href="https://www.atptour.com/en/news/tokyo-2024-draw-preview" target="_blank"Read Tokyo Draw Preview/a/span/strong/p

pstrong2) Defending champ Shelton back in Tokyo: /stronga href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/ben-shelton/s0s1/overview'Ben Shelton/a returns to the site where he won his maiden ATP Tour title 12 months ago. It capped off a strong end to the 2023 season for the 21-year-old, who also made the semi-finals of the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/us-open/560/overview'US Open/a. The American fell in the third round at Flushing Meadows this year to a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/frances-tiafoe/td51/overview'Frances Tiafoe/a in a blockbuster five-setter. The eighth seed plays countryman a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/reilly-opelka/o522/overview'Reilly Opelka/a in the first round./p

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pstrong3) American threats at every turn:/strong Fritz and Shelton are joined in the main draw by a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/tommy-paul/pl56/overview'Tommy Paul/a and a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/frances-tiafoe/td51/overview'Frances Tiafoe/a, two other American men who also find themselves inside the Top 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings. a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/brandon-nakashima/n0ae/overview'Brandon Nakashima/a earned a special exempt spot due to his deep run at the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/hangzhou/4713/overview'Hangzhou Open/a. Paul is 11th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and 570 points behind eighth-placed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/alex-de-minaur/dh58/overview'Alex de Minaur/a, who is not competing in Tokyo due to injury./p

pstrong4) Wild card for Nishikori: /strongTwo-time champion a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/kei-nishikori/n552/overview'Kei Nishikori/a was granted a wild card to return to Tokyo for the first time since 2018. The former No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings has been hampered by injuries in recent times but is working his way back to full health with some impressive tennis. The 34-year-old reached the quarter-finals at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Genoa before coming up short against #NextGenATP Chinese lefty Shang in the first round of the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/chengdu/7581/overview'Chengdu Open/a last week.nbsp;/p

pstrong5) Hurkacz, Ruud among stars to watch:/strongnbsp;The eight seeded players in the singles draw are all in the Top 20 of the PIF ATP Rankings. Other stars to watch are second seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/hubert-hurkacz/hb71/overview'Hubert Hurkacz/a, third seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/casper-ruud/rh16/overview'Casper Ruud/a, fourth seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/stefanos-tsitsipas/te51/overview'Stefanos Tsitsipas/a and sixth seed a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/players/holger-rune/r0dg/overview'Holger Rune/a. Ruud crucially is sixth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin and is trying to make his return to the a href='https://www.atptour.com/en/tournaments/nitto-atp-finals/605/overview'Nitto ATP Finals/a after missing out one year ago./p

p[NEWSLETTER FORM]/p