At this point in the tennis season, withdrawals due to 'exhaustion' or 'injuries' are the norm. The Shanghai Masters is no different, with the noticeable absences being World number 17 Grigor Dimitrov, inconsistent but entertaining Frenchman Gael Monfils, veteran Juan Monaco and German Florian Mayer.
Dimitrov has had a dismal season so far, both on court and off court with a string of first round losses, that resulted in him sacking his long time coach Roger Rasheed earlier in the year. In fact, his year hasn't been much different from Eugenie Bouchard's, except that Bouchard showed a few sparks of brilliance at the U.S. Open, whereas Dimitrov has been mostly lacklustre throughout. Currently without a coach, Dimitrov will be looking to find some of his form in the off-season this year, to start off 2016 on a high. This withdrawal would mean the end of the 2015 tennis season for him though, since he now has no hopes of qualifying for the ATP World Tour Finals in London.
Flying Frenchman Gael Monfils is often scrutinised for his showboating and quirky repertoire of shots, which is the main reason for his huge number of injuries. After a back injury last month, that forced him to pull out of the U.S. Open, Monfils has unsurprisingly decided to withdraw from the last Masters of the year too. An official statement is expected on this soon.
Despite this, Shanghai boasts of a star-studded field including the likes of Novak Djokovic, Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Stan Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych. The Shanghai Rolex masters is one of the 9 ATP masters 1000 tournaments in the world, with defending champion Roger Federer being the favourite to win. He will, however, face a tough resistance from dominant world number 1, Novak Djokovic and world number 3, Andy Murray. Wawrinka, ace-master Raonic, consistent Berdych and youngster Kyrgios can be considered the dark horses for the tournament. The draw is yet to be decided.