World number four Daniil Medvedev said the ATP Tour calendar needs to be refocused around the Grand Slams and Masters 1000 events with the lower-tier ATP 250 tournaments moved to an optional slot later in the year.

The small furry objects that are the focus of every tennis player's energy are spinning the stars at the ATP finals into a fury and leaving them deflated.

Czech Barbora Krejcikova on Sunday called for respect and professionalism in sports media as she hit out at "unprofessional" remarks made about her appearance during a broadcast on the Tennis Channel.

Nadal, the winner of 22 Grand Slam titles, announced last week that he will retire from tennis after the Davis Cup Finals in Malaga next month.

When a teenaged Rafa Nadal bounced in to Roland Garros in pirate pants and sleeveless shirt in May 2005 before scything through the draw, few realised it marked the start of an unprecedented era of sporting domination.

Rafael Nadal on Thursday announced he will retire after the Davis Cup finals in November, ending a career which brought 22 Grand Slam titles, global respect and inspired epic, iconic rivalries with Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic.

Four-time Grand Slam winner Carlos Alcaraz made short work of China's Shang Juncheng on Saturday, defeating him in straight sets to breeze through to the Shanghai Masters third round.

Aryna Sabalenka said Tuesday that she wants to cap off a stellar year by returning to the top of the world rankings.

"I'm too far away from that level," he said. "I hope I'll reach it one day, but it's really impossible," said Alcaraz.

"It was a huge thing when I played him for the first time," said the world number three. "The other times for me were kind of a nightmare."

Tennis great Roger Federer said on Wednesday staying involved with the sport in retirement helped him avoid feeling "like an alien" ahead of this week's Laver Cup tournament in Berlin.

Jannik Sinner produced a brutal display of baseline power as he became the first Italian man to win the US. Open with a 6-3, 6-4, 7-5 win over American Taylor Fritz in the final on Sunday.

"I'm speechless right now. So many times I thought I was so close to get the US Open title. It has always been a dream of mine and finally I got this beautiful trophy," said Sabalenka.

Frances Tiafoe blamed his heartbreaking five-set US Open semi-final defeat to Taylor Fritz on cramping after his "body shut down".

The 23-year-old Italian is the only man to have made the quarter-finals of all four majors this season.

Top seed Swiatek, who won the title two years ago, showcased her all-court game in a straightforward 6-4, 6-1 win over Russian Liudmila Samsonova to open the evening session at Arthur Ashe Stadium and warned she was only going to improve.

The 20-year-old's exit means Serena Williams remains the last woman to successfully defend the US Open title back in 2014.

Four-time French Open champion Swiatek was equally dominant as Sinner as the top-seeded Pole eased into the fourth round with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Russia's Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova.

Djokovic, a four-time champion at the tournament and seeking a record 25th Grand Slam title, was leading 6-4, 6-4, 2-0 when Djere called it quits.

In the middle of the afternoon at Flushing Meadows, the searing heat reached 35 degrees Celsius (95 Fahrenheit).