Despite scheduling challenges and stars' early exits, Shanghai Masters still serves up massive attendances and record revenues

Despite early exits of star players and the tournament just missing the holiday break, the Rolex Shanghai Masters has wrapped up another record-breaking edition, serving up a strong testament to China's maturing tennis market.

With Spain's tour veteran Alejandro Davidovich Fokina outplaying his younger compatriot Rafael Jodar to claim his career-first ATP 1000 title, the Shanghai Masters celebrated another new champion on Sunday after concluding with an unexpected final matchup for a second straight year.

In last year's historic decider, qualifier Valentin Vacherot of Monaco beat his cousin, Arthur Rinderknech of France, to claim the title.

This time, Davidovich Fokina's 1-6, 7-6 (5), 6-4 comeback victory over Jodar, one of the ATP Tour's most intriguing young prospects, built on his recent surging form, which also helped him win his first ATP 250 title in Chengdu three weeks earlier, capping off the 27-year-old's "China Swing" on a high note.

"I cannot describe with words what I achieved during this China Swing. I would never think that I would have two titles after two months out," said Davidovich Fokina, who took a two-month injury break before arriving in China for the fall stretch of tournaments in Asia.

As entertaining as it was, the all-Spanish meeting wasn't the most anticipated final showdown.

Germany's soon-to-be world No 1 Alexander Zverev and Russia's 2021 US Open winner Daniil Medvedev had been touted to clash in the title-decider, yet both were left stunned in Saturday's semifinals by Davidovich Fokina and Jodar, respectively.

Serbia's 24-time major champion Novak Djokovic, an all-time fan favorite in China, and Spain's young phenom Carlos Alcaraz had also bowed out of the tournament much earlier than expected, with neither reaching even the round of 16.

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Still, a capacity crowd showed up at the 15,000-seat center court of the Qizhong Tennis Center on Sunday to enjoy the relatively low-profile matchup, underlining a growing passion for the sport that is not necessarily driven by star power.

After Sunday's denouement, this year's tournament had attracted nearly 250,000 spectators, almost tying last year's all-time attendance record, with 12 percent of visitors coming from overseas and 55 percent of domestic fans hailing from regions outside Shanghai, according to the tournament's management and promotion company Shanghai Juss Sports & Entertainment Group Co Ltd.

Thanks to a steady increase in ticket sales and sponsorship income, this year's total tournament revenue registered a new record of 500 million yuan ($74.8 million), with operational profit also achieving a year-on-year rise.

The tournament's strong commercial performance has defied the odds stacked against it, with this year's event pushed back for a week, missing out on the National Day holiday and losing a majority of the casual tourism crowd.

"The one-week delay was indeed a challenge, but we are confident that, as an established tournament in a maturing market, we would still be a great event with strong appeal to tennis fans, sponsors and media partners," said Yang Yibin, chairman of Juss Sports & Entertainment.

"The impressive turnout, positive feedback from participants and stakeholders, and our compelling business operation, have all provided strong proof that our tournament has entered a mature, sustainable stage of development."

The tournament's efforts in hosting a variety of entertaining leisure activities, such as a four-day Masters Carnival prior to the main draw competition, an on-site tennis museum and the popular ACE Pet Zone, a pet-friendly lawn space for spectators and their four-legged companions, have proved crucial for drawing visitors, many of whom may not necessarily be hardcore tennis fans, to enjoy a day out on the vast grounds of Qizhong Tennis Center.

More facility upgrades are expected to take shape soon to further enhance services and the fan experience, including the construction of a new roofed stadium court to operate in tandem with the venue's current center court that has its own iconic magnolia-shaped retractable roof. It is set to break ground right after next year's tournament, according to Yang.

Organizers have also gone the extra mile this year to take better care of the players, such as hiring more volunteers who speak Spanish, serving empanada, a traditional Spanish pastry, in the players' lounge and opening an on-site barbershop.

"I still remember that, back in 1998, when we established the first professional tennis tournament in town, a lot of foreign players were afraid to come," said Yang. "Now, we've become one of their favorite destinations on the tour."

Having only trailed the Cincinnati Open in Ohio, ranked second among all the nine ATP 1000 tournaments, by players for two years in a row, Shanghai is confident that it will be in contention for ATP Masters 1000 Tournament of the Year at the end of this season, said Yang.

The growing and sophisticated appreciation for the game among China's fan base has helped the tournament win over international players, impressing them with energetic support on and off the court.

The Royal Caribbean Masters Practice Court, a 1,200-seat open training facility purposefully built to provide fans a better viewing experience, proved a hit this year, with spectators lining up at the entrance, even before the day's matches swung off, just to get a close-up look at their favorite stars' practice drills.

Returning to play in Shanghai after skipping the event last year, Spain's seven-time Grand Slam champion Alcaraz received a warm welcome from fans during his first open practice at the court on Oct 8.

"The fans are super passionate about, I would say, any sport, which I think is great for the community. I just love it every time that I come here, because I think they appreciate good tennis," he said.

Buoyed by the unwavering support from their home crowd, China's surging men's players have collectively celebrated a breakout run in Shanghai this year, after Wu Yibing, Buyunchaokete and Zhou Yi all cruised past the main-draw opening round, marking the first time three local players had reached the second round.

Eno Polo, the ATP Tour CEO, heaped praise on the strong impact of a premier tournament like the Shanghai Masters on cultivating local talent and building the sport's culture.

"China is one of the biggest markets in the world, and having men's Chinese players hitting the top 10 would be tremendous for tennis globally," said Polo, who attended last year's tournament after being appointed as the Tour's new chief executive a month prior.

"If you look at it from a commercial aspect, from a media aspect, that's what I would personally love to see.

"With tournaments continuing to develop in China, I think it's only a matter of time. For me, my dream would be having a No 1 Chinese player in men's professional tennis, which would be amazing, not just for China, but for the global market."