The 2025 Hangzhou Open arrives as the ATP returns to Asia for its autumn swing, with a notable entry list for an ATP 250 event. The tournament, staged again after its 2024 edition in which Marin Cilic defeated Zhang Zhizhen in the final, will take place in the 8,000-seat stadium and promises a compact week of singles action.

Top seed duties fall to world No 14 Andrey Rublev, who is entered at the event for the first time. He is joined at the head of the field by compatriot Daniil Medvedev, a former world No 1 who is competing in his first tournament under new coach Thomas Johansson. Medvedev has dropped to 18th in the ATP Rankings this season and is opting to focus on ATP events rather than other team competitions.

Alexander Bublik, ranked No 19, is also entered and arrives on the back of his best season to date, targeting a fourth title of 2025. The quartet of top seeds is completed by world No 39 Corentin Moutet, the only other top-40 player currently in the entry list.

Seeds five through eight include Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Roberto Bautista Agut, Adrian Mannarino and Learner Tien. Defending champion Marin Cilic returns to defend his title, and Matteo Berrettini is among those listed as making a comeback following recent injury issues. Other names in the entry list include Tomas Martin Etcheverry, Damir Dzumhur, Aleksandar Kovacevic, Matteo Arnaldi and David Goffin, among others.

As an ATP 250 tournament, the champion will receive 250 ranking points. While the ATP has not published an updated round-by-round points table for 2025, last year’s distribution awarded 165 points to the runner-up, 100 to semifinalists, 50 to quarterfinalists, 25 to second-round winners and no points for a first-round exit. The event carries a total prize-money purse of $1,019,185, up slightly from 2024; Cilic earned $152,240 for lifting the title last year.

The 28-player main draw begins on Wednesday, September 17 and concludes with the final on Tuesday, September 23. The top four seeds—Rublev, Medvedev, Bublik and Moutet—will receive byes into the second round. Wildcards and qualifiers will be confirmed ahead of the draw ceremony.

Alex Eala extended her unbeaten run to six matches with a commanding start at the SP Open, following a breakthrough weekend at the Guadalajara 125. The 20-year-old carried momentum from her maiden WTA singles title into the top-tier event, beating Yasmine Mansouri 6-0, 6-2 in 76 minutes.

Eala broke Mansouri three times in the opening set and twice in the second to secure a decisive victory. The win arrived with Eala seeded third in the draw and earned her a two-spot climb in the Live Rankings, moving from No 61 to No 59. She has previously peaked at No 56 in the WTA Rankings.

“This is my first time in Brazil and my first time in South America, actually, so I’m so happy to see that the crowd is so lively,” Eala said after the match. “I didn’t expect so many people to come out and watch me play. I guess I was a bit lucky to be sandwiched in between two great Brazilians, so I’m just happy to be here and to be able to play well.”

Tuesday at Parque Villa-Lobos also belonged to the top seed Beatriz Hadda Maia, who delighted home fans with a 6-1, 6-1 win over qualifier Miriana Tona. The SP Open is making its debut on the WTA Tour and is the first top-level women’s tournament in Brazil since 2016.

Eala can still improve her ranking further this week. A victory over Julia Riera in the second round would lift her to No 55; Riera, currently No 188 in the Official WTA Rankings, reached the round of 32 by defeating Vitalia Diatchenko in straight sets. Projections in the draw suggest Eala could face Janice Tjen in the quarter-final and, if results follow seedings, second seed Solana Sierra in the semi-final.

A run to the final or a title would produce larger jumps, with a championship potentially moving Eala as high as No 42. A Rafa Nadal Academy graduate, Eala reached the Miami Open semi-final earlier this season, made her Grand Slam debut at Roland Garros and recorded her first major match win at the US Open after first-round exits at Roland Garros and Wimbledon.

Alex Eala arrives in Sao Paulo on the back of a breakthrough month and will open her SP Open campaign as the third seed at the WTA 250 event. The 20-year-old has enjoyed a rapid rise: she became the first Filipino in the Open Era to win a Grand Slam singles match when she stunned 14th seed Clara Tauson at the US Open just over two weeks ago, and she followed that landmark with the biggest title of her career at the WTA 125 Guadalajara Open. Eala climbed 14 places in the WTA Rankings after Guadalajara and arrives in Brazil among the highest-ranked players in the draw.

Her first opponent is qualifier Yasmine Mansouri. The 24-year-old Frenchwoman has spent most of her career on the ITF circuit and has claimed five W15-level singles titles, four of those victories coming in Monastir, plus five further ITF finals. Mansouri reached a career-high of world No 314 in February 2025 and is currently ranked 380th, carrying a 25-24 win-loss record for the season to date. She has reached three ITF semi-finals in 2025 and entered the Sao Paulo main draw after a second-round finish to Linda Fruhvirtova in Leiria.

Mansouri made her WTA Tour debut at the 2022 Jasmine Open in Monastir with a wildcard into the main draw, where she lost in straight sets to Magdalena Frech. At the Sao Paulo qualifying event she was seeded fourth, defeating home wildcard Ana Cruz 6-3, 6-2, then beating Thaisa Grana Pedretti 6-2, 6-4 to secure her place in the main draw.

This will be the first meeting between Eala and Mansouri; they are separated by 319 places in the WTA Rankings. The opening-round match is scheduled for Tuesday, with the winner set to face either Julia Riera or Vitalia Diatchenko in the next round.