Lorenzo Musetti arrives at the hard-court event in Chengdu with an outside chance of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals.

The Italian is 15th in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, the highest-ranked player in action this week, but is 1080 points behind eighth-placed Alex de Minaur, who occupies the final qualification spot.

If Musetti is to make his move, he will need to start with a deep run in Chengdu, where he reached the semi-finals last year.

NextGenATP Chinese lefty Shang Juncheng has enjoyed a standout season, highlighted by semi-finals in Hong Kong and Atlanta.

The 19-year-old hopes to perform well in front of his home fans and consolidate his third-place position in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah.

Shang, who is currently one spot off his career-high at No. 67, is aiming to make his debut at the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF in December.

Japanese star Kei Nishikori will also take to court in Chengdu after receiving a wild card.

The 34-year-old enjoyed his best result of the season last month in Montreal, where he reached his first ATP Masters 1000 quarter-final since 2019.

Nishikori will face Shang in a popcorn first-round clash.

Second seed Alexander Bublik returns to Chengdu for the third time, having reached the final on debut in 2019.

The 27-year-old has captured three of his four titles on hard courts, including earlier this year in Montpellier.

Nicolas Jarry has endured a tough time in recent months, losing his past seven matches.

Chasing his first win since advancing to the final in Rome in May, the Chilean will play Australian Adam Walton or Slovakian Lukas Klein in his first match.

Defending champions Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul return to Chengdu as the top seeds and are chasing their third title of the season together.

Ivan Dodig and Rafael Matos team as the second seeds.