The top two seeds will battle for the title in Hangzhou, as Daniil Medvedev and Andrey Rublev advanced in straight sets on Monday.
Medvedev scored a 7-5, 6-4 win over his longtime friend Roman Safiullin, while Rublev took out Frenchman Kyrian Jacquet, 7-6(0), 6-1.
Medvedev scored the first break of the match in the 12th game, after saving three break points while serving at 1-1 and failing to convert a break point in his first and second return games.
Safiullin gifted it in the end, missing badly with a double fault on set point to end a competitive first set in 55 minutes.
Medvedev was broken in the first game of the second set but recovered, taking the break back for 2-2. After failing to convert three break points with Safiullin serving at 3-4, he then broke in the final game of the match to clinch his spot in the final, closing the match with a vintage Medvedev-won’t-miss rally in which he wore down Safiullin to draw the final error.
“Honestly, it was fun,” the 30-year-old said of the match. “Roman is a very tough opponent, and I feel like it was a very high-quality match. I’m happy with the way I handled the situation, handled his shots, which is not easy. And, of course, happy to win, but happy for Roman that he is coming back from an injury.”
Earlier on Monday, Rublev notched his 400th ATP win against a first-time ATP semifinalist. The 28-year-old is the ninth active ATP player to have achieved the feat. He improves to 31-17 on the season and will bid for his 19th ATP title, and second of 2026.
400 wins or more, active players, ATP
| Player | Tour-Level Wins |
|---|---|
| Novak Djokovic | 1,177 |
| Marin Cilic | 610 |
| Stan Wawrinka | 589 |
| Gael Monfils | 588 |
| Alexander Zverev | 576 |
| Grigor Dimitrov | 486 |
| Daniil Medvedev | 456 |
| Kei Nishikori | 452 |
| Andrey Rublev | 400 |
| Stefanos Tsitsipas | 397 |
There were no breaks in the opening set, with Jacquet saving two break points while serving at 4-4. Rublev took over in the tiebreaker, and ended up winning the final 11 points of the opening set.
The 24th-ranked Russian had it in the bag from there. He broke Jacquet for 2-0 and 4-0 and closed out his victory in 81 minutes.
Rublev dropped just 11 points on serve in the contest.
Medvedev also cracked a milestone of sorts, recording his 350th ATP hard-court win. The Russian is the 18th man to achieve that feat in the Open Era, and the fourth active man. He will bid for his 24th title on Tuesday.
“I think it’s our second final with Andrey, and we played a lot of matches,” Medvedev said. “We’ve done a lot of things on the ATP Tour, so I’m really happy, you know, to see him on the other side of the net.
“It’s going to be a tough match for both of us. I need to play my best tennis. The one who plays the best tennis is going to win.”
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