Daily Times

BEIJING: Former world number one Daniil Medvedev will headline the return of elite men’s tennis to China after a Covid-enforced break of four years, organisers said on Wednesday.

The Russian, winner of the US Open in 2021 and a two-time Australian Open runner-up, will play at the ATP Tour’s Zhuhai Championships on September 20-26.

Zhuhai Championships officials have also been in “fruitful” talks with other grand-slam champions and top-ranked players, the ATP said. More star names will be announced “imminently”.

Another ATP event will take place in Chengdu, in the southwest of China, at the same time as the Zhuhai tournament.

Those are followed by the China Open in Beijing starting in late September, before the prestigious Shanghai Masters in October.

“I’m really looking forward to coming back to China and playing at the Hengqin International Tennis Center,” the 27-year-old Medvedev, now third in the world, said of his Zhuhai debut.

“I can’t wait to see the city and the stadium, both of which I have heard a lot of good things about.”

Australia’s Alex de Minaur won the first edition of the competition in Zhuhai, near Hong Kong, in 2019.

The women’s WTA Tour said earlier this month that it too will return to China this year.

International sport is making a return to the country after authorities dropped strict travel restrictions imposed because of the pandemic.