The top three seeds have advanced to the semi-finals in Hong Kong and will book a place in the title match on Saturday. Lorenzo Musetti meets Andrey Rublev, while Alexander Bublik goes up against Marcos Giron.
(1) Lorenzo Musetti vs. (3) Andrey Rublev
Shockingly, Musetti and Rublev will be facing each other for just the second time in their careers and for the first time in almost six full years when they meet again in the semi-finals of the Bank of China Open on Saturday. Their last previous meeting came at the 2020 Dubai event, where Rublev fell 6-4, 6-4.
Of course, Musetti is a completely different player now than he was when he was only 17 years old. The 23-year-old Italian has risen to world No. 7 and is making his first appearance at the Nitto ATP Finals. He opened in Hong Kong with a three-set win over Tomas Martin Etchereverry before clearing Coleman Wong 6-4, 6-4. Rublev came back to beat Yibing Wu and then beat Nuno Borges 6-3, 6-4. The 16th-ranked Russian may use more firepower, but Musetti’s versatility could make the difference – and the top seed has been more mentally strong than Rublev in recent seasons.
Select: Musetti in 3
Marcos Giron vs. (2) Alexander Bublik
Bublik shows no signs of slowing down on the heels of his best year on tour. In 2025, the Kazakh rose to 11th place in the rankings and was one of the Nitto ATP Finals. So far in Hong Kong he has disposed of Botic van de Zandschulp and Jerry Shang in easy straight sets.
Next up for the No. 2 fifth meeting with Giron, who leads the head-to-head series 3-1. The 64th-ranked American has won three in a row in 2022 and 2023 after dropping his first match at the 2021 Cincinnati Masters. Giron did better than Laslo Djere, Alexandre Muller, and Michael Mmoh (with his second retirement) this week, but this is a big step up in the competition – and it’s a very different Bublik than the one that faced Giron in 2021, 2022, and 2023.
Select: Bublik in 2
