Say it ain't so! Current world no.3 and all-around pretty decent player Roger Federer has just announced that he won't be participating in the upcoming Shanghai Masters next month. It's the second time Federer's pulled out from competing in Shanghai, after the longtime world no.1 declined his Masters invitation in 2009. Current world no.1 Novak Djokovic is also unlikely to make it to Shanghai, as a recent back injury will require between three to six weeks to heal. It comes as little surprise that two of the top three players in the ATP Tour would miss out on the upcoming tournament in Shanghai, as the Masters follow both the U.S. Open (the year's fourth and last Grand Slam) and Davis Cup matches, two must-play events on the ATP schedule. Players have recently threatened to strike due to the grueling schedule set up by the International Tennis Federation, and will meet in Shanghai during next month's Masters to discuss the situation. more ›

Break out the sunscreen and parasols, because tennis season is imminent! The Shanghai Masters and Beijing's China Open kick off next month, giving local tennis fans their annual chance to see players like Nadal, Federer, Sharapova and the Williams sisters swing grunty backhand volleys in the flesh. The China Open will take place from September 30th to October 9th at the China National Tennis Center, while the Shanghai Masters will run from October 8th to the 16th at the Shanghai Qizhong Tennis Center. Schwing! more ›

Take a look at the advice 16-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer has to give newly crowned French Open winner Li Na. And Li Na's one question for Federer? "How can you play so well in tennis?" Fair enough. Stick around for the last bit, where Federer learns some Chinese! 加油李娜！ more ›

By Geoff Ng and Pete Chorba more ›

History repeated itself again yesterday as top-seeded (and not top-ranked-anymore) Roger Federer lost his first round match at this year's Shanghai Masters Cup, currently going on at the Qizhong Stadium. This year-ending tennis event represents the gathering of the eight "best" players on the ATP Tour of the year for a fierce round-robin competition to earn not only the honor of winning the Masters Cup, but also a nice purse of $625,000. more ›

The International Olympic Committee has called on Beijing Games organisers to release detailed information about air quality gathered during an August trial when 1.3million cars were taken off the Chinese capital's roads. more ›

There must be something strange in the air (literally), because this year's Tennis Masters Cup has been quite a doozy. And after last night's action (Day 3), it's officially a doozy. Richard Gasquet of France, the last man to qualify for the tournament, upset number three in the world and crowd favorite, Novak Djokovic of Serbia, in convincing fashion, 6-4, 6-2. It was Djokovic's second loss in the tournament, after falling to Spaniard David Ferrer... more ›

... why not get a terracotta one instead? That statue on the right, ladies and gentlemen, is Roger Federer. more ›

After their appearance in the final of The Championships, Wimbledon, Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal have both qualified for the year-ending Masters Cup, held annually in Minhang, Shanghai. more ›

On our way to the gym yesterday morning, still a little groggy, we got off the subway one stop too early. But at Shaanxi Nan Lu, we saw the attached advertisement. It's probably been up for several weeks now, but we have been out of town — and we don't normally get off at the wrong stop. more ›

The Hilton Shanghai looked less like a hotel and more like an airport when Shanghaiist visited last night. Set up in the foyer was an x-ray machine exactly like the ones you find at Pudong or any other international airport, and each guest who entered the hotel was asked to put their luggage on the conveyor belt for a security check. Unlike when we travel home from China for a holiday, Shanghaiist wasn’t harbouring 400 DVDs and 10 Xiangyang watches in our bag, so we had nothing to be nervous about. more ›

The field is finally set for the Tennis Masters Cup, which comes to Shanghai's brand-spankin'-new Qi Zhong Stadium (pictured) November 13-20. Competing in "the final showdown" are some of the biggest names in men's tennis. (Also competing are guys named Ivan Ljubicic, Guillermo Coria and Nikolay Davydenko.) Players headed to Shanghai you may have heard of are Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Roddick, Lleyton Hewitt and Andre Agassi. more ›