5 players who will miss Shanghai Masters 2024 ft. Sebastian Korda & Alex De Minaur

Hubert Hurkacz and Sebastian Korda were in top form at last year’s Shanghai Masters but the duo will not be seen in action at this year’s tournament. They are among the big names to have pulled out of the Masters 1000 event.

Hurkacz had lifted the crown in the Chinese city 12 months ago but injury woes will prevent him from competing again this year.

The two will not be the only big names missing from one of the Asian swing’s biggest events. Here, we take a look at the five biggest withdrawals from the 2024 Shanghai Masters:

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#1 Shanghai Masters defending champ Hubert Hurkacz

Hubert Hurkacz lifted his second Masters 1000 title in Shanghai last year, ripping through the draw with wins over Thanasi Kokkinakis, Zhang Zhizhen, and Sebastian Korda early.

Facing Andrey Rublev in the summit clash, he was pushed to the brink but managed to come through in a deciding-set tiebreaker 6-3, 3-6, 7-6(8).

Coming into the Asian swing this year, however, Hurkacz finds himself struggling with injury. He was forced to retire during his Cincinnati Open semifinals against Francs Tiafoe with a calf injury and has made early exits at the US Open and Tokyo since.

While his name was initially featured on the Shanghai Masters’ entry list, he has since withdrawn from the event. The Pole, who was defending 1,000 ranking points, will thus drop out of the top-10.

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#2 Sebastian Korda

Another big name who posted a strong result at the Shanghai Masters last year, Sebastian Korda, will also be missing from this year’s field.

The American had staged a strong run to the Masters 1000 event’s semifinal before running into Hubert Hukracz. Before that, they had beaten the likes of Ben Shelton and Daniil Medvedev at the event.

Korda has had a troubled past with injuries and this time around, it’s an issue with the elbow that will prevent him from playing in China.

Much like Hurkacz, the American also stands to lose a lot as he will be dropping the 400 points that he earned by reaching the semifinals last year. He is currently ranked at No. 19 with 2,380 points to his name.

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#3 Alex de Minaur

Coming into the Asian swing, Alex de Minaur would have had his mind set on improving on his second-round exit from last year's Shanghai Masters.

The Aussie had suffered a surprise exit at the first hurdle (he had received a bye in the opening round) when he lost to Fabian Marozsan 6-3, 7-5 despite being the 11th seed at the tournament.

Unfortunately, he will have to wait another 12 months to try and improve on that result as he has pulled out from the Masters 1000 event this year.

Battling a hip injury that has sidelined him from action since July, De Minaur had earlier announced his decision to withdraw from the Davis Cup and Shanghai Masters.

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#4 Cameron Norrie

Former British No. 1 Cameron Norrie has also been away from tennis action since July due to a forearm injury.

He last competed at his home Grand Slam Wimbledon, and a week later at the Swedish Open but failed to make much of an impact, losing in the third and second rounds respectively.

The Briton has since entered the Canadian Open, Cincinnati, and the US Open but has been forced to withdraw from all three. He also missed the China Open and will be out for longer given his latest setback.

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#5 Jan-Lennard Struff

Jan-Lennard Struff, the big-serving German, will also be out of this year’s Shanghai Masters.

He, much like De Minaur, would have looked forward to improving on his second-round exit from the tournament last year but will not get a chance to do so this year.

The German last played at the US Open, where he lost a five-set marathon to Laslo Djere, and has since withdrawn from the China Open and Shanghai. His participation in the remainder of the Asian swing remains uncertain.