Led by Wu Yibing and Shang Juncheng, the 2026 new season is truly here!

The top focus in tennis this week is the two domestic exhibition events, the MGM Macau Exhibition and the WTCC World Tennis Intercontinental Challenge, which took place over the weekend and will wrap up today.

At the same time, the "gender battle" between Sabalenka and Kyrgios will take place tonight. Organized by Naomi Osaka’s former agency, this match is dubbed the "fourth official gender battle," aiming to honor the legendary 1973 battle of Billie Jean King and promote tennis attention and gender equality.

Of course, all the above matches are exhibitions. Today, our focus remains on the 2026 new season professional tour. With just about a week left before the new season starts on January 5, 2026, various professional tour events will kick off. Among them, although the Hong Kong tournament is only an ATP 250-level event, its player lineup looks quite promising overall.

Wu Yibing and Shang Juncheng each received a valuable main draw wildcard, while Bu Yunchaokete and Zhou Yi earned qualifying wildcards. Although the Hong Kong event is only in its third year, based on the previous two editions, both the players participating and the tournament conditions have been quite impressive.

In 2024, the top eight seeds in the men’s singles were Rublev, Khachanov, Tiafoe, Cerundolo, Struff, Musetti, Jarry, and Fucsovics. Additionally, well-known players like Cilic and McDonald participated. From China, only Shang Juncheng and Huang Zelin entered with main draw wildcards.

Ultimately, top seed Rublev advanced through the rounds and won the men’s singles title in Hong Kong, defeating Ruusuvuori 6-4, 6-4 in the final.

In the 2025 season, Rublev returned to Hong Kong as the defending champion but was upset in the first round by Mao Roran. Italian player Musetti, seeded second, lost in the quarterfinals to Spain’s Munar, falling short of advancing further.

The title was eventually claimed by unseeded player Miller, who defeated Japanese veteran Kei Nishikori, returning on a wildcard, in the final. Notably, wildcard Shang Juncheng also performed well, consecutively eliminating Huang Zelin, Martinez, and Mao Roran to reach the men’s singles semifinals before losing to Nishikori.

In the first week of the 2026 new season, besides the Hong Kong tournament, several other events like the United Cup, Brisbane, and Auckland will be held simultaneously, promising exciting performances from many players in the new season!(Source: Tennis Home, Author: Barbie)