Russian duo both advance, Dimitrov wins debut match, five Chinese women achieve three wins and two losses, defending champions qualify for year-end finals

Three minutes daily to catch up on global tennis news. Hello tennis fans, today is Tuesday, October 28, 2025. Welcome to the midday news report brought to you by "Tennis Home."

Early this morning Beijing time, the opening day of the last ATP1000 Masters tournament of the 2025 season—the Paris Masters—wrapped up its matches. The two Russian stars, Khachanov and Rublev, both won their matches and advanced to the second round. Khachanov dominated qualifier Quinn with a 6-1, 6-1 victory; Rublev defeated Briton Fearnley 6-1, 6-4.

Other matches: French wildcard Lindner-Knesi narrowly edged Hungarian Marosan 7-6(5), 7-6(4) in two tiebreaks to advance. British star Norrie started strong with a 6-3, 6-4 win over Argentina’s new rising player Baez. Bulgarian veteran Dimitrov, returning from injury, performed impressively in his debut, beating French big hitter Pericard 7-6(5), 6-1 to reach the second round smoothly.

Other debut winners included A. Muller, Altmaier, Vukic, Bublik, Sonego, Kazo, Kobori, Lerner-Chien, F. Cerundolo, Kecmanovic, and Berrettini.

Now turning to the women's events. Yesterday Beijing time, three WTA250 tournaments kicked off this week. At the Hong Kong Open, Chinese player Wang Yafan performed well in the first round singles, defeating qualifier Inglis 6-4, 6-7(6), 6-3 for a winning start. Next, she will await the winner between Swiss star Bencic and Belarusian Sasnovich. Meanwhile, Chinese young talent Ma Yexin, who emerged from qualifiers, was swept out 6-1, 6-2 by Spain’s Bouksha, missing the second round.

Fifth seed and Australian rising star Joneite came from behind to beat Latvian Sevastova 2-6, 6-4, 6-3, securing her first-round victory. In two other matches, German beauty Lis dominated qualifier Sidorova 6-0, 6-3, and Australian Tomljanovic defeated qualifier Kobori Momoko 7-5, 6-2.

At the Jiujiang Open, three Chinese women playing singles first round earned two wins and one loss. Qualifier Guo Hanyu overcame a 3-5 deficit in the deciding set to stun Russian Korneva 3-6, 6-2, 7-6(6), marking her second career main tour win. She will next face the winner between American Lee Genie and Chinese star Bai Zhuoxuan.

Wildcard entrant Zheng Wushuang also showed strong form, beating Ukrainian Starodubtseva 6-3, 7-6(5) to claim her first main tour victory. She will next face fifth seed Kazakhstan’s Putintseva. Wei Sijia, however, was eliminated by sixth seed Bondar 6-2, 6-2, missing out on progression.

Other debut winners included Zakharova, Korpatsch, Seidel, and Salkova. Meanwhile, at the Chennai Open, all matches scheduled for the first day were postponed to today due to rain interruptions.

Now let's focus on the year-end finals. Last night Beijing time, the ATP officially announced that defending champions, the German duo Krawietz and Puetz, have officially qualified for this year’s ATP Finals, becoming the sixth men’s doubles team to secure a spot this year.

Finally, let's play a guessing game. The following picture shows a player celebrating victory by holding up a national flag. Without any hints, can you identify who he is?

In the previous guessing game, some fans gave the correct answer. Indeed, the person in the picture is Chinese tennis star Wang Xinyu.

(Source: Tennis Home Author: Independent Thinker)