5 lesser known facts about the Rolex Shanghai Masters

The only ATP Masters 1000 title to not be played in either North America or Europe, the Shanghai Rolex Masters was first played in the year 2009 with Russian Nikolay Davydenko emerging victorious in the final against Rafael Nadal.The Shanghai Rolex Masters has won the ATP Masters 1000 Best Tournament of the Year 5 consecutive years between 2009 and 2013. In 2017, Roger Federer made history at the Rolex Shanghai Masters when he became the oldest man to win an ATP Masters 1000 tournament at the age of 36.As we approach the 10th edition of the tournament, we take a look at 5 facts about this premier tennis tournament in Asia:#5 Only 2 players have played in all 9 Shanghai Rolex MastersFrenchman Gilles Simon and the man with the most consecutive Grand Slam Singles appearances at 67 and counting Spaniard Feliciano Lopez are the only 2 men to have featured in the Main Draw of all 9 Shanghai Rolex Masters played since the inaugural edition of the tournament in the year 2009.Simon was a runner-up in 2014, losing to Roger Federer, and Lopez has made the semi-finals on 3 different occasions.Gilles Simon at the 2018 US Open#4 Lowest seeded player to win the titleNikolay Davydenko lifting the ATP World Tour Finals 2009 trophyIn 2009, Russian Nikolay Davydenko seeded 9th sprung a surprise of sorts when he beat top-seeded Rafael Nadal in straight sets to win the inaugural Shanghai Masters trophy. In the same year, Davydenko also won the ATP Tour Finals topping off a spectacular year for him.#3 All 4 top-seeded players made it to the Semi-Finals on only 1 occasionDjokovic at the 2012 Shanghai Rolex MastersIn the year 2012, semi-final lineups were reflective of the seedings as the Top-4 seeded players all made it to the semi-finals. Two-time defending champion Andy Murray was up against Novak Djokovic in the final.Djokovic had to save 5 Championship points in the 2nd set in order to force a deciding 3rd set. Djokovic eventually won the contest and the match was voted as the best ATP Tour match of 2012. The losing semi-finalists were top seed Roger Federer and 4th seed Tomas Berdych.

5 lesser known facts about the Rolex Shanghai Masters

#2 Most doubles titles