Rublev, Rune, Chinese stars Zhang & Wu to headline inaugural Hangzhou Open

Andrey Rublev, Holger Rune, Zhang Zhizhen and local favourite Wu Yibing will headline the first edition of the Hangzhou Open, the tournament announced Tuesday at a press conference. The Chinese ATP 250 will run from 18-24 September.

Rublev, No. 6 in the PIF ATP Rankings, is a 16-time tour-level champion, including title runs this year in Hong Kong and at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Madrid.

“I’m looking forward to coming back to China and playing in the Hangzhou Open in September,” Rublev said. “I’m excited to come to the beautiful city of Hangzhou and play in the stadium, which I know hosted the Asian Games last year.”

Zhang, 27, is China’s highest-ranked male player in history, currently World No. 42. One year ago he triumphed at the Asian Games, which was held at the Hangzhou Olympics Tennis Centre, the home of this event.

“It was an excellent experience to play at the Hangzhou Olympics Tennis Center in last year’s Asian Games. It has nice facilities and there is a great atmosphere there,” Zhang said. “I’m very happy and looking forward to going back and playing at the venue again this year in the ATP event in September.”

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Wu won the Dallas Open in 2023 to become China’s first ATP Tour titlist. He will try to add more glory to his resumé in front of his home crowd. The 24-year-old is from Hangzhou.

“I’m so happy that my hometown will be hosting an ATP Tour 250 event for the first time and I’m looking forward to coming back to Hangzhou and playing in the Hangzhou Open for the first time,” Wu said. “I know all the players will enjoy the beautiful city of Hangzhou and hopefully I can do well in front of my hometown fans. Make sure you all come out to watch me play.”

Rune competed in the Nitto ATP Finals for the first time last year and has climbed as high as No. 4 in the PIF ATP Rankings.

The state-of-the-art Hangzhou Olympics Tennis Centre features an 8,000-seat centre court with a retractrable roof. Two additional show courts have a seating capacity of 2,000. The city has a population of nearly 13 million.

Alison Lee, ATP Executive Vice President, International Region said: “There are many reasons to be excited about this tournament’s future: the beautiful city, the bustling commercial hub, a brand-new world-class tennis venue at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre, and an extremely experienced and well-respected management group staging the event at the highest level.”

The Hangzhou Open was officially announced in May as the ATP Tour’s newest Chinese event, following the relocation of the Zhuhai 250 tournament.

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