Beijing 2026 - ATP 500 Preview

This is my Preview of the ATP 500 of Beijing (China Open).

The Beijing Olympic Green Tennis Center, originally constructed for the 2008 Olympic Games, serves as the home for the China Open. By 2011, the facility had expanded to include 11 courts. Its centerpiece is the 15,000-seat Diamond Court, named for its distinctive shape and equipped with a retractable roof. Additionally, the venue features advanced air-cooling technology to enhance comfort for both players and spectators.

Speed Data

These are the average statistics of 2023, 2024 & 2025. The tournament was not held in 2022, 2021 and 2020.

• 70.9% of points won on the first serve
• 77.4% of service games held
• 0.41 aces/game
• 0.18 tie-breaks/set

Based on these numbers, we can affirm that Beijing is played on slow hard outdoor courts. Player statements seem to confirm the slow conditions of the tournament. The ball, as we'll see below, has also an influence here. 

Previous winners

2025: Sinner d. Tien

2024: Alcaraz d. Sinner

2023: Sinner d. Medvedev

2019: Thiem d. Tsitsipas

2018: Basilashvili d. Del Potro

Djokovic has lifted the trophy 6 times,  Michael Chang 3 times and Nadal and Sinner twice.

Weather

The forecast for Beijing from September 30 to October 6 looks very good overall: mostly dry with plenty of hazy sunshine and very little chance of rain. Daytime highs should generally be around 21–25°C (69–77°F), while nights will be considerably cooler at 8–11°C (46–52°F). September 30 may be somewhat breezier, with winds around 20–23 km/h (12–14 mph), but winds should generally be lighter afterwards. Current forecasts show no meaningful rainfall during the tournament period, although haze may be present on several days. 

Player's quotes

Cobolli, 2025: "I like the balls a lot, I feel good. When they open up a bit I play better and have fewer problems than in opposite situations like in New York, for example. I benefit from playing with balls like these from Beijing. You have to be careful about the string tension and other external factors, but in general I feel very good. I also like the court, with rather high bounces."

De Minaur, 2025: "The conditions are slow so I gave myself a bit of room to return. When the balls are so big and also quite slow, it’s tough to be aggressive and almost counterproductive at certain times. I’m still finding out what’s the best way forward in terms of tactically on these slower courts.”

Medvedev, 2025: "I would say it’s not slow and it’s not fast, more to the slow side, but nothing like Indian Wells for example."

Medvedev, 2024: "The balls... every week on the calendar, I feel they can't get any slower, but every week I feel they are at least as slow as the previous ones. They become huge, after two games it's almost impossible to hit a winning shot unless you have a very, very fast hand, like Sinner, Alcaraz, or maybe Grigor Dimitrov. There was a moment when we were both aware that we couldn't make winners: we ran, ran, and kept the ball in play. I was able to do it better, so happy to win. I think he got a bit more tired than me, so I could keep doing it and he lost a bit of rhythm.". "I don’t know who is capable of playing aggressively with these balls."

Zverev, 2023 (after beating Jarry): "The conditions really changed, it went from a day match to a night match. It became slower which seemed to suit him as he was able to hit the ball harder and flatter and still keep the ball inside the court."

Medvedev, 2023: "These balls on this hard court are a joke. You can basically break every game. It’s not easy for the mind. I like to play like this, of course, but it’s not good for hard-court tennis. I lost my serve in the third set but I still won it 6/1.”

Medveded, 2023 (after beatig Zverev): “I'm really happy with my level. Roof closed, different conditions today, much faster. Both of us are big servers so it came down to just a few opportunities and I managed to serve better when I had break points to save than he did.”

Alcaraz, 2023: “I felt it since the first practice that I did here in Beijing. It is something tough, but the tennis player has to get used to that.. They change balls in every tournament or almost in every tournament is a different ball. You have to get used to that. It’s kind of different feeling when you are coming into a tournament, it’s like ‘What is going to be the ball?’ It’s a question that I think every player is asking themself about the ball. Here in just 1 or 2 games, the ball becomes different from the new ones. It’s kind of different play, & you have to get used to that.”

Sinner, 2023: “I feel good on this court. It’s are a little bit different. It depends how hot it is but tonight it felt like playing indoors and it felt a little slower.”

Summary

According to the statistics, it is one of the slowest hard-court tournaments on the circuit.

Aside from the surface, it's important to highlight the balls used. It seems they are hard to move, as Medvedev says every other year :-).

Additionally, during night matches, the conditions become even slower. And if the humidity is high, even more so. Therefore, it’s especially important in this tournament to distinguish whether the match is played at night or during the day with sunlight.

Some clay court players might do it well here.

All in all, very different conditions than in Tokyo, that is much quicker.

Draws

Here’s the link to the tournament draws, which you can check for updates at any time:

• Main draw: https://www.protennislive.com/posting/2026/747/mds.pdf
• Qualifying Draw: https://www.protennislive.com/posting/2026/747/qs.pdf