Paris Masters draw announced: Sinner faces Mannarino, Chinese players dominate Guangzhou Open semifinals, Rublev withdraws last minute

Three minutes daily to catch up on global tennis news. Hello tennis fans, today is Saturday, October 25, 2025. Welcome to the news midday report brought to you by "Tennis Home."

Last night Beijing time, the main draw for the men's singles at the final ATP1000 Masters event of the season in Paris was revealed. Among the top eight players in the world, everyone is competing except Serbian star Djokovic, who had earlier withdrawn. World No.1 Alcaraz and American top player Fritz headline the upper half, while World No.2 Sinner and Germany’s leading player Zverev anchor the bottom half. The top eight seeds’ matchups are: Alcaraz vs. Ruud, Fritz vs. De Minaur, Musetti vs. Zverev, Shelton vs. Sinner. Bulgaria’s handsome Dimitrov returns from injury and will face French power hitter Pericard in the first round.

Back to the courts. Last night Beijing time, the quarterfinals concluded at this week’s two ATP500 events, and semifinal spots have been decided. Vienna: top seed Sinner defeated Kazakhstan’s Bublik 6-4, 6-4 to reach his eighth ATP singles semifinal this year. Next, he will face third seed Australian De Minaur, who beat Italian star Berrettini 6-1, 7-6(4). In their head-to-head, Sinner leads De Minaur 11-0, dominating the young Australian.

The other two semifinal places went to Germany’s Zverev and Italian star Musetti. Zverev advanced due to a walkover from Dutch top player Griekspoor, while Musetti won in straight sets against French player Moutet.

Basel: Brazilian rising star Fonseca reached his first ATP500 semifinal after opponent Shapovalov retired while trailing 3-6, 6-3, 4-1 in the deciding set. He will face Spaniard Munar, who advanced after Canada’s Aliassime retired due to injury following a 6-3 first set loss. Thus, both Canadian top players exited via retirement. Frenchman Humber defeated American Opelka in straight sets to meet Spaniard Fucsovics in the semifinals; Fucsovics advanced after Norwegian Ruud withdrew following a first-set tiebreak victory.

Now turning to the women’s events. Last night Beijing time, the WTA250 Guangzhou International Women’s Tennis Open concluded its singles quarterfinals, and all semifinalists have been decided. Two-time champion and Chinese veteran Zhang Shuai edged out American qualifier Volynets 7-6(5), 5-7, 7-5, reaching a tour semifinal for the first time in three years and a Guangzhou Open semifinal for the first time in eight years.

Next, she will compete against second seed Li Jinyu for a spot in the final. Li defeated Italian Cocciaretto 6-3, 6-4 to reach her third tour semifinal this year. This Li Jinyu is actually American player Ann Li, who told the audience during a live interview that her Chinese name is not Li An but Li Jinyu.

The other two semifinal spots were claimed by qualifier New Zealander Lulu Sun and qualifier Liu Jingwen. Sun came back from 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 to beat American McNally, while Liu overturned a 4-6, 6-0, 6-4 deficit to defeat German Seidel. Thus, apart from Zhang Shuai, the other three Guangzhou Open semifinalists are all ethnically Chinese players, marking a victory gathering for Chinese heritage players.

WTA500 Tokyo: In the singles quarterfinals, fifth seed Swiss star Bencic battled for over three hours to come back from a set down, winning 3-6, 7-5, 7-5 against Czech star Muchova and advancing to the semifinals. She will next face American Kenin, who narrowly defeated Russian Aleksandrova 6-0, 2-6, 7-6(3) for a spot in the final.

Kazakhstan’s top player Rybakina, having secured her place at the year-end finals, announced her withdrawal from the semifinals due to a back injury to focus on recovery. As a result, her opponent Noskova advances to the final via walkover.

Lastly, let’s play a guessing game. The image below shows the back of a player. Without any hints, can you identify who it is?

In the previous guessing game, fans gave the correct answer. Yes, the person in the picture was the women’s world No.1, Sabalenka.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: The Maverick)