Rei Sakamoto – Andrey Rublev

Prediction summary

Rublev enters with a structural advantage tied to his ranking, his experience at Masters 1000 events, and his recent schedule against main-tour players. Sakamoto may nevertheless partly offset this through his three matches already played on Shanghai’s hard court and his acclimatization to the venue. The decisive limitation remains the physical condition and recovery of both players, particularly after their recent demanding stretches.

• Rublev’s actual physical condition and recovery after a final in Hangzhou followed by a quarterfinal in Beijing are unknown.
• Sakamoto’s match load after two qualifying rounds and a first-round match in Shanghai.
• Insufficient detailed recent service, return, and hard-court performance statistics to specify the matchup.
• Exact match schedule and conditions not confirmed.

Comparative statistics

SakamotoRublev

• World rankingNo.125
  No.22
• Ranking points469
  2,175
• Win rate (career)33 %
  64 %
• Wins (career)5
  402
• Titles0
  18

Surface & conditions

Speed

Medium

Bounce

Medium

Court

Show Court 3

ATP ranking

#	Player	Points
20	Alexander Bublik	2,285
21	Jiri Lehecka	2,275
22	Andrey Rublev	2,175
23	Luciano Darderi	2,160
24	Karen Khachanov	2,030
…
123	Emilio Nava	484
124	Grigor Dimitrov	472
125	Rei Sakamoto	469
126	Pedro Martinez	462
127	Alexei Popyrin	458

See the full ranking

1	Jannik Sinner	10,450
2	Alexander Zverev	9,750
3	Carlos Alcaraz	5,610
4	Ben Shelton	4,680
5	Daniil Medvedev	3,860
6	Flavio Cobolli	3,690
7	Felix Auger-Aliassime	3,515
8	Arthur Fils	3,425
9	Frances Tiafoe	3,380
10	Alex de Minaur	3,280
11	Rafael Jodar	3,234
12	Novak Djokovic	3,090
13	Taylor Fritz	2,995
14	Tommy Paul	2,675
15	Alejandro Davidovich Fokina	2,600
16	Jakub Mensik	2,495
17	Brandon Nakashima	2,375
18	Learner Tien	2,345
19	Francisco Cerundolo	2,310
20	Alexander Bublik	2,285
21	Jiri Lehecka	2,275
22	Andrey Rublev	2,175
23	Luciano Darderi	2,160
24	Karen Khachanov	2,030
25	Casper Ruud	1,995
26	Lorenzo Musetti	1,920
27	Alexander Blockx	1,790
28	Hubert Hurkacz	1,585
29	Tomas Martin Etcheverry	1,565
30	Alejandro Tabilo	1,565
31	Valentin Vacherot	1,480
32	Ignacio Buse	1,445
33	Stefanos Tsitsipas	1,430
34	Alex Michelsen	1,410
35	Arthur Fery	1,406
36	Matteo Arnaldi	1,311
37	Botic Van De Zandschulp	1,295
38	Ugo Humbert	1,270
39	Zizou Bergs	1,260
40	Joao Fonseca	1,250
41	Cameron Norrie	1,195
42	Daniel Merida	1,195
43	Mariano Navone	1,164
44	Arthur Gea	1,160
45	Quentin Halys	1,127
46	Luca Van Assche	1,105
47	Jan-Lennard Struff	1,084
48	Matteo Berrettini	1,083
49	Sebastian Baez	1,044
50	Tallon Griekspoor	1,035
51	Thiago Agustin Tirante	1,024
52	Denis Shapovalov	1,015
53	Nuno Borges	1,000
54	Juan Manuel Cerundolo	1,000
55	Raphael Collignon	993
56	Adolfo Daniel Vallejo	947
57	Jaime Faria	941
58	Miomir Kecmanovic	930
59	Yannick Hanfmann	923
60	Daniel Altmaier	874
61	Arthur Rinderknech	870
62	Ethan Quinn	861
63	Fabian Marozsan	860
64	Vit Kopriva	844
65	Jaume Munar	835
66	Mattia Bellucci	824
67	Martin Landaluce	822
68	James Duckworth	814
69	Roman Safiullin	807
70	Facundo Diaz Acosta	807
71	Tomas Machac	804
72	Titouan Droguet	801
73	Adrian Mannarino	783
74	Pablo Carreno Busta	773
75	Camilo Ugo Carabelli	770
76	Zachary Svajda	759
77	Roman Andres Burruchaga	754
78	Hamad Medjedovic	751
79	Kyrian Jacquet	741
80	Alex Molcan	734
81	Sebastian Korda	730
82	Kamil Majchrzak	725
83	Damir Dzumhur	712
84	Aleksandar Kovacevic	703
85	Rinky Hijikata	689
86	Jacob Fearnley	686
87	Chak Lam Coleman Wong	678
88	Marcos Giron	676
89	Marco Trungelliti	670
90	Terence Atmane	666
91	Lorenzo Sonego	658
92	Bu Yunchaokete	652
93	Dino Prizmic	638
94	Jenson Brooksby	638
95	Nikoloz Basilashvili	631
96	Marin Cilic	629
97	Toby Samuel	625
98	Adam Walton	619
99	Benjamin Bonzi	617
100	Henrique Rocha	596
101	Michael Zheng	594
102	Jesper de Jong	591
103	Corentin Moutet	590
104	Zsombor Piros	590
105	Martin Damm	582
106	Sho Shimabukuro	580
107	Wu Yibing	571
108	Lloyd Harris	571
109	Aleksandr Shevchenko	559
110	Hugo Gaston	548
111	Thiago Seyboth Wild	545
112	Dane Sweeny	538
113	Gustavo Heide	535
114	Jan Choinski	533
115	Nicolas Mejia	519
116	Aleksandar Vukic	507
117	Valentin Royer	506
118	Christopher O'Connell	499
119	Hugo Dellien	498
120	Dalibor Svrcina	494
121	Otto Virtanen	493
122	Sebastian Ofner	491
123	Emilio Nava	484
124	Grigor Dimitrov	472
125	Rei Sakamoto	469
126	Pedro Martinez	462
127	Alexei Popyrin	458
128	Francisco Comesana	455
129	Shintaro Mochizuki	451
130	Alexandre Muller	441
131	Nishesh Basavareddy	432
132	Stefanos Sakellaridis	431
133	Max Alcala Gurri	430
134	Clement Chidekh	428
135	Borna Gojo	416
136	Laslo Djere	412
137	Jurij Rodionov	411
138	Matej Dodig	410
139	Andrea Pellegrino	404
140	Pablo Llamas Ruiz	403
141	Tristan Schoolkate	403
142	Federico Cina	401
143	Marton Fucsovics	400
144	Darwin Blanch	397
145	Vilius Gaubas	396
146	Ilia Simakin	396
147	Michael Mmoh	386
148	Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard	385
149	Gabriel Diallo	382
150	Elmer Moller	378

Career record

Keys to the match

• The tournament is an ATP Masters 1000 played in Shanghai from October 7 to 18, 2026 on hard court.

• Favorable scenario for Sakamoto: his local familiarity and early ball striking could exploit possible fatigue for Rublev after Hangzhou and then Beijing.

• Favorable scenario for Rublev: his baseline power, short sequences, service games, and experience could neutralize Sakamoto’s acclimatization.

• The weather conditions, previous schedules, and precise recovery time are not established.