That’s it for the Asian tour—it was short, but the Chinese fans’ enthusiasm for the game's biggest names was as sweet as ever. The big winners were Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer (more on him from me later today), both of whom walked away with their fourth titles of 2014, solidified themselves at No. 2 in the rankings, and made us highly curious about their immediate futures.
As for our immediate future as fans, we now cast our eyes back one more time to Europe; following the tour at this time of year feels a little like following a tennis ball as it crosses from one side of the net to the other. The indoor season—also known as the homestretch—begins today. Here’s a look at the five tune-up events that get us started. While the women are mostly biding their time before the year-end championships in Singapore, the men are still sprinting toward London. A total of 335 points separate the No. 6 through No. 10 positions. Which makes it a little less surprising that nine of the ATP’s Top 15 are competing in what we would normally consider a down week.