1. Roger and Rafa in China: Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer are the top two seeds in the tournament for the first time. Nadal leads Federer by 2,160 points in the Emirates ATP Race To London (going into Beijing F), with 4,000 points still available for both players at Shanghai, Basel, Paris and the Nitto ATP Finals.

2. Rafa at No. 1: Nadal has played at every edition of the Shanghai Rolex Masters except 2012. He is 12-7 at the tournament, posting his best finish as runner-up at the inaugural event in 2009 (l. to Davydenko). The Spaniard is ranked No. 1 for the 149th week of his career and making his third Shanghai appearance as the top player in the world (2010 3rd Round and 2013 Semi-finalist).

3. Roger Returns: Federer is making his first ATP World Tour appearance since reaching the quarter-finals at the US Open. The Swiss is 13-4 at the Shanghai Rolex Masters, winning the 2014 title (d. Simon) and reaching the 2010 final (l. to Murray). In his last visit to Shanghai two years ago, Federer lost his opening match to Albert Ramos-Vinolas. Federer is 39-4 in 2017 with five titles.

4. Former Champions/Finalists: Federer is the only former champion in the Shanghai Rolex Masters main draw (2014) and one of five players to have finished runner-up (2010), joining Nadal (2009), Juan Martin del Potro (2013), Gilles Simon (2014) and Roberto Bautista Agut (2016).

5. Next Gen ATP Finals Preview: The Top 10 players in the Emirates ATP Race to Milan are in the main or qualifying draw, led by ATP Masters 1000 Rome and Montreal champion Alexander Zverev, US Open quarter-finalist Andrey Rublev and 18-year-old sensation Denis Shapovalov.

6. Sascha Makes History: Last week in Beijing, Zverev became the youngest qualifier for the Nitto ATP Finals since del Potro in 2008. The 20-year-old German is also the youngest Top 5 player, ATP Masters 1000 champion, and five-time champion in a season since Novak Djokovic in 2007. Zverev defeated Cilic en route to the third round in his Shanghai debut last year (l. to Tsonga).

7. The Race is On: No. 7 seed Pablo Carreno Busta, No. 8 seed David Goffin, No. 10 seed Sam Querrey and No. 11 seed Kevin Anderson are battling to earn a spot for the eight-man Nitto ATP Finals. Going into the Tokyo final, Goffin is holding the final spot. Goffin is 8-0 in Asia thus far this fall after winning the Shenzhen title and reaching the Tokyo final (vs. Mannarino).

8. Wild Cards: Chinese players Di Wu, Yibing Wu and Ze Zhang join Shapovalov as main draw wild cards. Yibing Wu, 17, won the junior singles and doubles titles at the US Open, where Shapovalov qualified and became the youngest player to reach the fourth round since Michael Chang in 1989.

9. Perfect Attendance: Simon and three-time semi-finalist Feliciano Lopez are the only players in the nine-year history of the Shanghai Rolex Masters to play at every edition of the event (2009-17).

10. Doubles Draw: Defending champions John Isner and Jack Sock are joined by 2017 Grand Slam winners Henri Kontinen/John Peers, Ryan Harrison/Michael Venus, Lukasz Kubot/Marcelo Melo and Jean-Julien Rojer/Horia Tecau. Kubot and Melo are the No. 1 team in the world.

The leader in the Emirates ATP Race To London is playing an opponent who is attempting to salvage his dreams of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals in a blockbuster final at the China Open on Sunday in Beijing.

World No. 1 Rafael Nadal is pitted against No. 8 seed Nick Kyrgios in the fifth Fedex Head 2 Head meeting between the two (2-2) and the third of this season alone. Nadal won 6-3, 6-1 in May in the third round at the Mutua Madrid Open before Kyrgios won 6-2, 7-5 in the quarter-finals at Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati in August. This is their first meeting in a final.

Nadal is appearing in his fourth China Open final (1-2), having won his first and only championship in Beijing during his debut in 2005 (d. Coria). In both of the finals the Spaniard lost (2013, 2015), he fell to Novak Djokovic, who is out for the season due to injury.

The 31-year-old Spaniard is appearing in an ATP World Tour-best ninth final of the season (5-3) and the 110th in his career (74-35). The last time he won at least six titles in a season was in 2013, with 10, and winning his sixth of 2017 on Sunday would push him ahead of Roger Federer and Alexander Zverev, with whom he currently is tied at five titles, which leads the tour. 

Nadal has saved 22 of 25 break points (88%) en route to the final, holding 47 of 50 service games (94%). He comes in on an 11-match winning streak and is trying to become the 12th champion on the ATP World Tour this season to capture a trophy after saving match point(s). He saved two match points in his first-round win over Lucas Pouille. The last time Nadal went on to win an ATP World Tour title after saving match point(s) was three years ago in Rio de Janeiro, where he saved two in a semi-final win against Pablo Andujar.

“I am very pleased the way that I have been playing the whole week, after saving a very tough first day,” Nadal said after his three-set semi-final win over Grigor Dimitrov. “Another chance tomorrow to compete in a big match. That’s important for me. That’s why we practice every day and we try to improve every morning.”

Kyrgios is appearing in his second final of the season, and his first since the Western & Southern Open (l. to Dimitrov). A victory over the Spaniard would give the Australian his fourth ATP World Tour title, with his last title coming one year ago in Tokyo (d. Goffin).

The 22-year-old Aussie leads the tournament in service games won, being broken only once (97%) and return games won, converting 14 of 21 (67%) break points over the course of the week.

But while this is the first time that Kyrgios is facing a Top 10 opponent in an ATP World Tour final, he has enjoyed plenty of success in big matches. Kyrgios is 14-20 lifetime against Top 10 competition (4-3 this year), including 8-8 vs. Top 5 foes.

The only previous time Kyrgios has faced a World No. 1, he came out with a victory, beating Nadal in the fourth round at Wimbledon in 2014 when he was still ranked No. 144.

Today, Kyrgios has moved to No. 15 in the Emirates ATP Race to London and he will go to No. 14 if he wins the title. The big-match man could take another big step toward qualifying for London’s Nitto ATP Finals for the first time if he could get past Nadal.

Roger Federer returns to the ATP World Tour this week at the Shanghai Rolex Masters. But before play gets underway in the ATP Masters 1000 event, he entertained fans in a more light-hearted way on Saturday.

Federer got into a dance-off with none other than Mickey Mouse himself on centre court at QiZhong Stadium, showing that he can do more dancing than simply running around a backhand to hit a forehand.

The Swiss will resume his pursuit of a record-tying sixth year-end Emirates ATP Rankings No. 1 spot when he plays the winner of Rakuten Japan Open semi-finalist Diego Schwartzman and a qualifier in the second round. 

A big week in Shanghai will go a long way for the Swiss. But Federer faces a tough path in his quest to track down Rafael Nadal in the Emirates ATP Race To London, currently trailing by 2,160 points entering Sunday. Critical points are up for grabs at the penultimate ATP World Tour Masters 1000 event of the year.

The second seed finds himself in the same half of the draw as Alexander Zverev, who became the third player to punch his ticket to the Nitto ATP Finals with a quarter-final run at the China Open. Should they meet in the Shanghai semis, it would be a rematch of the Coupe Rogers final in Montreal, where Zverev clinched his second Masters 1000 crown of the season.

A potential quarter-final clash against 2016 Shanghai runner-up Roberto Bautista Agut looms, while David Goffin, who carries an eight-match win streak into Sunday’s Tokyo final, is also in Federer’s quarter of the draw.

Zverev, meanwhile, will potentially need to fight past 2013 finalist Juan Martin del Potro and fifth seed Dominic Thiem to set a meeting with Federer in the last four. Thiem is fourth in the Emirates ATP Race To London, with 3,715 points.

In the other half of the draw, top seed Rafael Nadal leads the pack. His best result in Shanghai was a runner-up finish to Nikolay Davydenko in 2009. Pablo Cuevas or #NextGenATP Jared Donaldson awaits the Spaniard in his opener, with a potential rematch against sixth seed Grigor Dimitrov in the cards in the quarter-finals. Nadal defeated Dimitrov in Saturday’s Beijing semis.

Nadal owns a record-tying 30 titles (w/Djokovic) at the ATP World Tour Masters 1000 level and will look to add to victories in Monte-Carlo and Madrid this year. His last hard-court Masters 1000 triumph came in Cincinnati in 2013.

If he is to add another title to his list of accolades, Nadal will have to get through a difficult half of the draw, with the second quarter full of players attempting to strengthen their bids in the Emirates ATP Race To London.

Marin Cilic is the highest seed in the section at No. 4, but seventh-seeded Pablo Carreno Busta, US Open finalist Kevin Anderson and Nick Kyrgios, who is playing Nadal in Sunday’s Beijing final, are all lurking.

Carreno Busta, who is currently eighth in the Race, Anderson (No.12) and Kyrgios (No. 15) are all seeking their first London berths.

Perhaps the most intriguing match of the opening round pits Anderson against Adrian Mannarino, who defeated Cilic Saturday to advance to the Tokyo final. Other matches to keep an eye on are Kyrgios against American Steve Johnson and  Fabio Fognino against Fernando Verdasco.