Shanghai night ticket holders at the Rolex Shanghai Masters might have expected to see Jannik Sinner or Novak Djokovic play during the night session on Sunday, with the No. 2 and No. 5 players in the PIF ATP Rankings both in the draw’s bottom half. Instead, those lucky fans will have the opportunity to see both giants of the game.
At 6:30 p.m. local time, Djokovic will open the evening session against German qualifier Yannick Hanfmann in the pair’s second Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting. That match will be followed by Sinner vs. 27th seed Tallon Griekspoor, with the Italian bidding to extend his perfect record against the Dutchman to 7-0.
“I’m very early in my career still, but I’m very happy to play after Novak. It’s great for the fans, it’s great to hopefully watch some good tennis in both matches,” Sinner said, discussing the hottest ticket in the sport.
The double bill comes at a fitting time, coinciding with the 20th anniversary of the Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena, which was initially built to host the Nitto ATP Finals (then the ATP World Tour Finals) from 2005-08. The stadium has a retractable steel roof that spirals open and shut. When closed, the roof resembles a blooming magnolia, Shanghai’s official flower.
With Sinner and Djokovic set to compete in the same session on Sunday, they could face off in the same match later at the ATP Masters 1000 event. If both players notch three more wins, they would meet in the semi-finals. That potential meeting would be their 11th Lexus ATP Head2Head showdown; Sinner leads the series 6-4 with wins in their past five meetings, including this season at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.
