ATP - Tokyo, Sweden & Belgium; WTA China, Romania & Tunisia

 

This is a busy week with six ATP and WTA 250s on three continents - Asia, Europe and Africa.  The men are competing in Japan, Stockholm and Antwerp while the women are in China, Romania and Monastir, Tunisia.

Congratulations to last week's champions:

Shanghai Masters 1000

Singles: Humbert Hurkacz d. Andrey Rublev

Doubles: Granollers/Zeballos d. Bopanna/Ebden

Zhengzhou Open WTA 500

Singles::Zheng Qinwen d. Barbora Krejcikova

Doubles: Dabrowski/Routliff d. Aoyama/Shibahara

Korea Open 

Singles: Jessica Pegula d.Yue Yuan 

Doubles:Bouzkova/Mattek-Sands d. Kumkhum/Plipuech

Hong Kong Open

Singles: Leylah Fernandez d. Katerina Siniakova

DoublesTang/Tsao d. Kalashnikova/Sasnovich

After this week, we're done with the Asian Swing and things are winding down towards the Finals for both tours.👇

Week 2 of ATP 1000 Shanghai + WTA Seoul, Hong Kong & Zhengzhou

 

Finally, this week's tournaments are back to a normal schedule - a Monday start (it's China time zone) and the ATP Shanghai Masters 1000 going into its 2nd week. All tournaments this week will finish on Oct. 15.

Congratulations to the WTA Beijing Masters 1000 winners this week:

Singles: Iga Swiatek d. Liudmila Samsonova

Doubles: M. Bouzkova/S. Sorribes Tormo d. H-C Chan/G. Olmos

Hartt shares an important reminder about Peng Shuai:

With the return of the WTA to China we are reminded of Peng Shuai. In November 2021 she accused Zhang Gaoli, a retired Chinese Vice-Premier, of sexual assault. Since then, outside of what appeared to be staged situations, she has disappeared from public view. We hope that reports that she is safe and living with her family in Beijing are accurate.

Peng is now officially retired from tennis, but she had a wonderful career. She won the doubles trophies in Wimbledon (2013) and Roland Garros (2014) with partner Hsieh Su-wei. In singles she reached a career high ranking of No. 14. Another highlight was winning the gold medal at the Asian Games in 2010.

The reality is that China, having suspended tournaments during the Covid pandemic, has allowed them to resume, and both the WTA and the ATP are back. But it is important that we do not forget Peng Shuai.~ Shirley

👇

Asian Swing continues in China - ATP 1000, WTA 1000

 

Chinese actress Li Li-Hua was an opera-trained megastar at home when she became one of the first Chinese women to star in a Hollywood film. In 1958, she acted alongside Victor Mature in the romantic drama China Doll

We are reminded that China and indeed parts of the Asian diaspora were very much a part of movie productions in Hollywood's heyday.  Shanghai itself was central to quite a few movies.  The 1930s, considered the first "Golden Period" of Chinese cinema, saw the advent of the leftist cinematic movement. The civil war between Nationalists and Chinese Communist Party (CCP) was reflected in the films produced. It would take years before  Asian actors belatedly received the accolades of the Hollywood movers and shakers.