World No.1 and three time champion at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, Novak Djokovic, heads a star-studded line up of players for the tournament’s mile-stone eighth anniversary to be played at the futuristic looking Qi Zhong Stadium, 9 to 16 October, 2016.
The direct entry field boasts representation from 22 different nations of which nine have multiple players. France leads with the number of singles players with seven followed by Spain with six.
There are 44 players who make the cut-off for the main draw and the cut-off ranking will be 43.
“We are ready for what is going to be an amazing tournament once again,” Tournament Director Michael Luevano said. “The world’s greatest tennis players will grace the courts at Qi Zhong for what will be a festival of amazing matches.
“Our fans and all of us at the Shanghai Rolex Masters are so looking forward to welcoming the very best of the best and to celebrate the important eighth anniversary of our tournament and which is also their tournament.
“To the Chinese people eight is a lucky number so this makes the 2016 Shanghai Rolex Masters a very special tournament and we hope every player from our qualifiers to our doubles teams to the singles players right up to the top will feel special.”
While Djokovic is the first player into the main draw, the last one to slip in under the cut-of is Argentine Federico Delbonis, joining his countryman Juan Martin Del Potro who was awarded the tournament’s first wild card.
There are seven players on the direct acceptance list that have either won or reached the final of the Shanghai Rolex Masters: Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Rafa Nadal, Jo Wilfried Tsonga, Juan Martin Del Potro, Gilles Simon and David Ferrer.
Two players, Florian Mayer and Janko Tipsarevic who had been off the tour for quite some time due to injuries, are using their “protected ranking” to secure places in the much sought after main draw.
THE DIRECT ENTRY LIST
1. Novak Djokovic
2. Andy Murray
3. Stan Wawrinka
5. Rafa Nadal
6. Milos Raonic
7. Kei Nishikori
8. Tomas Berdych
9. Marin Cilic
10. Dominic Thiem
11. Jo Wilfried Tsonga
12. Gael Monfils
13. David Ferrer
14. David Goffin
15. Richard Gasquet
16. Nick Kyrgios
17. Roberto Bautista Agut
18. Feliciano Lopez
19. Bernard Tomic
20. Pablo Cuevas
21. John Isner
22. Steve Johnson
23. Ivo Karlovic
24. Grigor Dimitrov
25. Lucas Pouille
26. Philipp Kohlschreiber
27. Jack Sock
28. Alexander Zverev
29. Martin Klizan
30. Sam Querrey
31. Gilles Simon
32. Viktor Troicki
33. Albert Ramos-Vinolas
34. Benoit Paire
35. Kevin Anderson
36. Joao Sousa
37. Gilles Muller
38. Fabio Fognini
39. Pablo Carreno Busta
40. Paolo Lorenzi
41. Borna Coric
42. Nicolas Mahut
43. Federico Delbonis
Tickets to watch these amazing players at the 2016 Shanghai Rolex Masters are available through www.jusstickets.com or www.shanghairolexmasters.com . Tickets can also be purchased by calling the booking hotline Ph: (+86-21) 962123.