Del Potro began his Asian hard court swing in Beijing, where he lost in straight sets Grigor Dimitrov in the second round, his second loss against the Bulgarian. This was followed by a strong performance at the 2017 Shanghai Masters, where he reached the semifinals of a Masters 1000 event for the first time since 2013 (also in Shanghai), most notably upsetting Alexander Zverev in the third round, his second triumph over a Top 5 ranked opponent after his previous victory over Roger Federer at the 2017 US Open. Del Potro won the first set but eventually lost in the semifinals against Federer, who would go on to win the tournament.