Style Edit: Rolex Shanghai Masters is back – Asia’s only ATP Masters tournament returns after 4 years with tennis superstars Carlos Alcaraz, Jannik Sinner and Holger Rune on the court in China
- As well as partnering with all 4 grand slams, Rolex sponsors the Shanghai Masters – the only Association of Tennis Professionals Masters 1000 championship hosted outside Europe or North America
- Roger Federer, Li Na, Iga Świątek, Dominic Thiem, Angelique Kerber, Chris Evert, Caroline Wozniacki and Stefanos Tsitsipas are among the Swiss watchmakers’ illustrious tennis testimonies
A sport that demands endless refinements of technical excellence, as competitors push themselves to the limit to exploit split-second advantages in the pursuit of perfection: you can see exactly what Rolex appreciates about the high performance world of professional tennis.
In fact, the world’s most famous Swiss luxury watch brand has long been a dedicated partner and supporter of the world’s most stylish sport, an association that began when Rolex first sponsored Britain’s Wimbledon Championships back in 1978. Since then, it has continually deepened its ties, partnering with all four of the premier grand slam events and signing up an expansive roster of top-tier tennis talents as its Rolex testimonees.
Those ties run especially deep in China. The brand signed on as the title sponsor of the prestigious Shanghai Masters the year after the event was born in 2009, and it has continued to be the principal commercial partner of the tournament ever since. A new chapter of that rich association is set to be written in October, when the event makes its return after four years away.
Asia’s most important tennis tournament, the Rolex Shanghai Masters is the only Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP) Masters 1000 championship to take place outside Europe or North America. With just nine events a season, the ATP Masters 1000 represents the second-highest echelon of men’s professional tennis, after the grand slams and the season-ending ATP Finals.
The Masters takes place at a suitably spectacular venue: the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena in southwestern Shanghai. Seating almost 14,000 people, the visually arresting structure is distinguished principally by its unmistakable roof, which can open or close in just eight minutes, with eight panels that together form the shape of a blooming magnolia, the city’s official flower.