Chengdu Open

History of the ATP Chengdu Open

The Chengdu Open was inaugurated in 2016, establishing Chengdu as a host city on the ATP Tour’s expanding calendar of tournaments in China. The event was created as a men’s professional tennis competition at ATP 250 level and became part of the Asian swing, giving players another opportunity to compete for ranking points during the latter part of the season. Its arrival added to the international sporting profile of Chengdu, a major city in Sichuan province known for its culture, cuisine and giant panda conservation work.

The tournament is held at the Sichuan International Tennis Center, a venue designed to accommodate professional competition across multiple courts. The centre’s facilities include a 6,000-seat centre court, two additional show courts with seating for around 2,000 spectators each, 20 outdoor courts and 12 indoor courts. The combination of show courts and supporting facilities enables the tournament to stage main-draw matches alongside other competition and practice activity. It also gives organisers the infrastructure needed to host players, officials and spectators over a full tournament week.

Chengdu’s early years helped establish the tournament as a regular part of the professional calendar. The event brought a changing cast of international players to Sichuan, with established tour professionals competing alongside players seeking a breakthrough result. Like other ATP 250 events, it offered a singles title and doubles competition, providing ranking opportunities for both individual players and doubles specialists. Over time, the Chengdu Open developed a reputation as a useful stop for players looking to build momentum during the Asian swing.

In 2016, the tournament’s inaugural year, German player Karen Khachanov won the singles title. The victory was an early milestone in the event’s history and part of Khachanov’s development into a significant figure on the men’s tour. His career subsequently included major results at higher levels of competition, making the first Chengdu champion an interesting name in retrospect. The tournament’s first edition gave Chengdu an immediate connection to the wider ATP circuit and established the event’s place in the season.

In 2017, Denis Istomin of Uzbekistan won the singles championship. Istomin had already built a reputation as a capable tour-level competitor, and his Chengdu victory added another ATP title to his career. The result illustrated how an ATP 250 tournament can provide a meaningful opportunity for players who have experience on the tour but are still looking for another title-winning week. It also reinforced the event’s international character, with champions representing different tennis nations rather than a single dominant national programme.

Bernard Tomic won the Chengdu Open in 2018. The Australian had long been recognised for his touch and natural shot-making, and his victory placed him among the event’s early champions. The title was another example of Chengdu serving as a stage for players with different backgrounds and playing styles. By this point, the tournament was becoming established as a recurring competition rather than a one-off addition to the ATP schedule.

The 2019 singles title went to Alexander Bublik, the Kazakh player known for his inventive shot selection and willingness to attempt the unexpected. Bublik’s style made him an entertaining presence on the tour, and his Chengdu triumph added a new name to the tournament’s list of champions. His victory also reflected one of the appealing features of the event: its capacity to bring together players whose games and personalities can make matches unpredictable. On a good day, Bublik can produce tennis that leaves opponents guessing and spectators wondering whether the next shot will be a winner or an audacious experiment.

The tournament’s history was then interrupted by the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. International travel restrictions and the suspension or restructuring of sporting events affected tennis tournaments around the world, including competitions in China. The Chengdu Open did not take place in 2020, 2021 or 2022. Its absence created a gap in the event’s development, but it also reflected the wider difficulties faced by the international tennis calendar during those years.

The Chengdu Open returned in 2023, with German player Alexander Zverev winning the singles title. Zverev was already an established top-level player with extensive experience at the highest levels of the sport. His victory gave the returning tournament a high-profile champion and reconnected Chengdu with the international ATP Tour after its three-year absence. The 2023 edition marked an important step in restoring the event’s place on the calendar and re-establishing it as a destination for leading professionals during the Asian swing.

The 2024 edition produced one of the most significant moments in the tournament’s history. China’s Shang Juncheng defeated Lorenzo Musetti in the singles final to win the title. Shang, also known as Jerry, became the first Chinese player to win an ATP Tour singles title on home soil. The achievement carried significance beyond the trophy itself: it offered a landmark moment for Chinese men’s tennis and gave local fans a memorable home champion at a major international event.

The final was a demanding contest. Shang and Musetti both served strongly, and the match required the Chinese player to manage pressure against a high-quality opponent. Official tournament statistics recorded 21 aces for Shang and 18 for Musetti. Shang also won 75 per cent of points behind his first serve and saved 19 of 23 break points, demonstrating how important his serving and resilience were during the match. Those numbers underline that the victory was not simply a feel-good story; it was earned through high-level performance under pressure.

Shang’s triumph helped strengthen the Chengdu Open’s importance as a tournament for Chinese tennis. A home title gave local spectators a direct connection to the event and showed the value of providing Chinese players with regular opportunities to compete against international opposition. The result also placed Shang in the tournament’s record books and added a major milestone to his early professional career.

In 2025, the Chengdu Open delivered another memorable final, this time with a dramatic comeback by Chile’s Alejandro Tabilo. Tabilo entered the tournament as a qualifier and eventually faced top seed Lorenzo Musetti in the championship match. Musetti took the second set after Tabilo won the first, sending the final into a deciding set. The match then swung towards Musetti, who earned two championship points at 6–5 while Tabilo was serving.

Tabilo saved both championship points and forced a tie-break. Even there, he found himself trailing 1–4 before producing a late surge to win the tie-break 7–5. His 6–3, 2–6, 7–6(5) victory made him the Chengdu champion and earned him his third ATP Tour title, as well as his first of the 2025 season. The result was especially striking because Tabilo had come through qualifying rather than entering the main draw as one of the leading seeds. His run demonstrated how a player can build confidence through successive matches and arrive at the final ready to challenge a tournament favourite.

The 2025 final also added another chapter to Musetti’s complicated relationship with the Chengdu championship match. He had reached the final in both 2024 and 2025, but finished runner-up on each occasion. In 2025, the Italian had the opportunity to close out the match before Tabilo’s comeback changed the outcome. For Tabilo, meanwhile, the title was a reward for persistence, serving under pressure and maintaining belief when the trophy appeared close to slipping away.

By 2026, the Chengdu Open remained part of the ATP Tour’s late-September Asian swing, scheduled for 23–29 September. The event continued as an ATP 250 tournament on hard courts, with a 28-player singles draw and a 16-team doubles draw listed in the ATP tournament information. Its place on the calendar allows players to compete in China before the tour moves into other autumn events in Asia and beyond.

From Khachanov’s inaugural triumph in 2016 to Tabilo’s dramatic comeback in 2025, the Chengdu Open has developed a history shaped by international champions, an important pandemic-era interruption and landmark moments for Chinese tennis. Its story is still relatively young compared with the sport’s oldest tournaments, but the event has already produced memorable finals and a growing place in the Asian swing. With its outdoor hard courts, modern tennis facilities and setting in one of China’s best-known cities, the ATP Chengdu Open remains an appealing stop for fans following the development of men’s professional tennis.