The four major tournaments may be done for 2025, but there remains plenty of compelling tennis, and storylines, to follow as the season reaches its finale.
With several glittering events taking centre stage in Asia, results from here on have a profound impact on who qualifies for the WTA and ATP Finals and finishes the year at world No.1 – all while setting the stage for Australian Open 2026.
Tennis shifts to Asia
We’ll admit, somewhat selfishly, that this is a fantastic swing on the calendar for us here in Australia. The time zones in Beijing and Tokyo – where the action unfolds this week – aligns almost identically with Australia’s east and west coasts.
Tennis has already been under way in this part of the world for over a week, beginning with the rescheduled Billie Jean King Cup Finals in Shenzhen, China, and in Seoul, South Korea, where Iga Swiatek triumphed.
In all there will be 12 WTA tournaments in Asia during this post-US Open swing, and another six on the ATP Tour.
Swiatek chases Sabalenka for No.1
Swiatek’s victory in Seoul – now a WTA 500 event – put her within 1600 points of Sabalenka in the points race to the WTA Finals.
This, rather than the rankings, better indicates where Swiatek stands in her quest to finish the season as world No.1.
Should she triumph at the WTA 1000 tournament currently under way in Beijing, which Sabalenka has skipped, Swiatek would narrow that gap to less than 600 points.
Sabalenka is expected to return in Wuhan, where she is the three-time defending champion, and the battle for No.1 could come down to the season-ending WTA Finals, where both she and Swiatek have already qualified.
Tennis universe centres on China
Beijing and Wuhan, plus the ATP Masters tournament in Shanghai, represent three prestigious 1000-level events playing out in major Chinese cities over the next three weeks.
These events attract the world’s best because of the significant points and prize money on offer – and there’s also the opportunity to join a sparkling honour roll of champions.
The past three editions of the Beijing event have been won by WTA superstars Coco Gauff, Swiatek and Naomi Osaka, while Sabalenka’s domination of Wuhan has seen her overtake two-time champion Petra Kvitova as the tournament’s most prolific winner.
Jannik Sinner is the defending champion in Shanghai, after beating Novak Djokovic in last year’s final.
Djokovic back in action
Djokovic this week announced he will return to Shanghai in 2025, resuming a season that has seen him create history.
After the 38-year-old became the oldest man in the Open era to reach all four Grand Slam semifinals in one year, Djokovic was unclear about his scheduling plans beyond that.
“Australia is far,” Djokovic laughed after his US Open exit to Carlos Alcaraz. “At least at this stage of my career, I mean, I'm not thinking that far, to be honest. I don't know.
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“I'm planning to play the Athens tournament, that's for sure, but other than that, it's really still a question mark where I'm going to go and what I'm going to do.”
His commitment to the Shanghai event removes some of those question marks, and he’s currently third in the ATP points race, putting him on track to qualify for another edition of the ATP Finals.
Zheng Qinwen returns
Another big player announcement has been the return of Zheng Qinwen, the Chinese star absent since Wimbledon due to elbow surgery.
This time last year, Zheng lit up the WTA tournaments in China, with fans packing out the 15,000-seat Centre Courts in Beijing and Wuhan to see their homeland hero progress deep in both events.
Zheng had a few months earlier claimed singles gold at the Paris 2024 Olympics – catapulting her to superstardom in China – and this year peaked at world No.4, not long after reaching the Roland Garros quarterfinals.
Race to the WTA Finals
Due to her inactivity Zheng is currently 21st in the points race to the WTA Finals, the year-ending championship open only to the best eight players of the season.
So far, only Sabalenka and Swiatek have qualified, meaning six spots remain up for grabs.
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Next in line to qualify is reigning Roland Garros champion Gauff, one of four Americans who occupy places third to sixth in the race. There’s also Wimbledon and US Open finalist Amanda Anisimova, AO champion Madison Keys, and Jessica Pegula, who reached the US Open semifinals.
Teenage superstar Mirra Andreeva is seventh in the race and targeting a debut at the US$15.5 million event, beginning 1 November in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
ATP Finals field taking shape
The ATP’s season-ending event begins a week later, and like the WTA Finals only two players have qualified for the eight-player field.
That's Alcaraz and Sinner, who have dominated the men’s game in 2025 and contested the past three Grand Slam finals in Paris, London and New York.
Who will join them in Turin? Tournaments taking place now will help determine the field, with Djokovic and Alexander Zverev next in line to qualify.
Currently, Alex de Minaur sits in eighth place in the points race, on 3145 points.
With ninth-placed Jack Draper out for the rest of 2025, threats to De Minaur’s position come from Felix Auger-Aliassime, Andrey Rublev and Alexander Bublik, the latter rising to 12th after capturing a fourth title of the season this week in Hangzhou.
Alcaraz or Sinner – who finishes No.1?
They’ve split the four majors between them this season, but Alcaraz’ triumph over Sinner at the US Open saw him snatch the No.1 ranking from the Italian, who’d held the position for more than a year uninterrupted.
Alcaraz has been brilliant in 2025, claiming seven titles from nine finals and building a lead of almost 2600 points over Sinner in the ATP race standings.
But there are plenty more points-earning opportunities to come this year for Sinner, who is the top seed this week at the ATP 500 event in Beijing.
More Italian domination at Davis Cup?
Immediately after the ATP Finals comes the Davis Cup Finals, also staged in Italy where the host nation is the two-time defending champions.
The relocation of the event in Bologna, and the success of the Italian team in the competition, reflect a trend of Italian tennis domination – continued by the Italian Billie Jean King Cup team which triumphed recently in Shenzhen.
Will there be an Italian Davis Cup three-peat? The other seven nations competing at the Finals – Austria, France, Belgium, Spain, Czech Republic, Argentina and Germany – will attempt to spoil the homecoming party.
Next Gen Finals bridge 2025 and 2026
Concluding the ATP season will be the Next Gen ATP Finals in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on 17-21 December.
That finishes just 12 days before the 2026 season commences, on 2 January, at the United Cup.
Last year, Brazilian phenom Joao Fonseca won the ATP Next Gen Finals and carried that form to Australia, where he won the Canberra Challenger, qualified for the Australian Open and stunned world No.9 Andrey Rublev in round one – his 13th consecutive match win.
An impressive line-up is taking shape at the 2025 edition of the Next Gen event. Could one of them be the game’s next breakout star at Australian Open 2026?