Two of the ATP Tour’s great power players will meet on Sunday in the Rolex Shanghai Masters singles final. While both Andrey Rublev and Hubert Hurkacz are sure to light up the radar gun, the two competitors —  both in search of a second ATP Masters 1000 crown — will attack the match in very different ways.

Rublev, this year’s Monte-Carlo champion, is most effective from the ground. His bruising baseline game helped him to the biggest triumph of his career earlier this season on the Monaco clay, and it has provided the foundation for the fifth seed’s run to the Shanghai final.

“Andrey, obviously, hits every single ball 200 kilometres per hour, and he just goes after the shots,” Hurkacz said of Rublev, who has not lost a set in five wins. “He just brings so much energy on the court. He’s a great competitor.”

Hurkacz’s game is largely built around his booming serve, a weapon that helped him defeat Sebastian Korda without facing a break point in the semi-finals. The Pole’s prime deliveries often set him up to attack on serve (if they come back into play) and also free him up to be aggressive on return.

“Hubi is [such a] tough player. He’s really tough to play against,” Rublev said of the 16th seed, who will be his fifth straight seeded opponent in Shanghai. “He has good strokes from baseline. He has good [feel]. He moves well, really well, especially for his height. He really has a good defensive game. The serve, one of the best serves on tour, makes him a really, really tough player that you need to be all the time super focussed [against].”

Statistics from Tennis Insights forecast the tactical battle in store on Sunday. Rublev’s well-rounded game is anchored by his lethal forehand, which has scored an 8.7 Shot Quality out of 10 this week. That score is trumped only by Hurkacz’s 9.3 mark on serve. Both players are above the ATP Tour average by every measure in the below graphic, with the exception of Hurkacz’s backhand and his Steal score, which measures how often a player wins points from defence.

Final Preview 👀🎾 @SH_RolexMasters@HubertHurkacz vs @AndreyRublev97

Radar 📊 #Insights from their matches so far in Shanghai

Who has the advantage? Who’s taking home the 🏆?#TennisInsights | @atptour pic.twitter.com/vvXRDooDOO

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) October 14, 2023

Hurkacz will be competing in his third ATP Masters 1000 final, having won the Miami title in 2021 and finished runner-up in Montreal in 2022. That Montreal defeat is the lone blemish on the Pole’s 6-1 record in tour-level singles finals. Rublev is 14-8 in title matches, including Masters 1000 final defeats in Monte-Carlo and Cincinnati in 2021.

In addition to the prestigious Shanghai crown, there will be a lot on the line Sunday in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin. Rublev could move 1,500 points inside the cut for the Nitto ATP Finals with his fourth title of the season, a result that would further cement his position in fifth place. A victory would all but secure his place in Turin alongside the already-qualified Novak Djokovic, Carlos Alcaraz, Daniil Medvedev and Jannik Sinner.

The 25-year-old would also rise to a career-high of No. 4 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings with the title.

Hurkacz, already up three places to 13th this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, would surge to 11th with his second title of 2023. That would put him just 335 points behind Holger Rune, who currently occupies the all-important eighth-place position.

They may be good friends off the court, but Andrey Rublev and Grigor Dimitrov held nothing back during their semi-final clash Saturday at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

It was the fifth-seeded Rublev who prevailed 7-6(7), 6-3 in a highly physical encounter to book a championship-match meeting with Hubert Hurkacz at the ATP Masters 1000 event in China. Rublev saved a set point before claiming a lung-busting 76-minute first set in a tie-break and then rallied from 0-2 in the second set to reach Sunday’s final.

“It’s not easy when you win matches against friends, because you feel both sides,” reflected Rublev, who is now into his fourth Masters 1000 final. “You feel sad, but at the same time you want to win. It’s a mix of feelings.”

The quest for multiple Masters 1000 titles in a season is 🔛@AndreyRublev97 defeats Grigor Dimitrov 7-6(7), 6-3 to make the final in Shanghai.#RolexShanghaiMasters | @SH_RolexMasters pic.twitter.com/VL6J4ov0oh

— ATP Tour (@atptour) October 14, 2023

Despite each pushing their opponent to their physical limits by continuously striking firmly off both wings from the baseline, the pair’s mutual respect was showcased at a key moment in the first-set tie-break. Rublev led 3/2 and fired an unreturned first serve which Dimitrov believed had clipped the net, but no let was detected by the on-court system. Rublev graciously offered to replay the point, but Dimitrov insisted the call should stand.

“I feel sorry for the situation in the tie-break at 3/2, because I wanted to replay the point,” said Rublev. “Grigor behaved like a real champion and said, ’It’s not [your fault], so he gave me the point. Maybe because of this point I was able to win the tie-break.”

Despite falling behind early in the second set, Rublev reeled off five straight games from 0-2 to take control as Dimitrov appeared to show signs of fatigue. The World No. 7 powered 13 winners to Dimitrov’s one in the second set and completed his win having converted three of four break points he earned in the match.

Rublev has now won all 10 sets he has played during his Shanghai run. The 25-year-old is 18-6 at Masters 1000 events for season, a tally which includes claiming his maiden title at that level in Monte-Carlo. Currently fifth in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, Rublev can also further strengthen his Nitto ATP Finals qualification hopes by lifting the trophy in Shanghai.

Rublev and Hurkacz will enter Sunday’s final at 2-2 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series. Rublev has won their two most recent encounters, which took place in 2022 in Dubai and Indian Wells.

“I’m thinking only to rest and try to recover for tomorrow, because Hubi is so tough to play,” said Rublev of the Hurkacz clash. “He’s one of the players that you don’t want to face because he can beat everyone. With his style of the game, the way he serves, the way he hits the ball. We’ll see, I just want to take my time to recover and to be as [ready] as possible for tomorrow.”

Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden delivered a dominant display in tie-breaks on Saturday to book their spot in the championship match at the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

The fourth seeds prevailed 7-6(0), 4-6, 10-2 against Fabien Reboul and Sadio Doumbia at the Chinese ATP Masters 1000 event. Bopanna and Ebden raised their level in the first-set tie-break and again in the Match Tie-break to claim a one-hour, 40-minute triumph inside Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena.

With their victory, Bopanna and Ebden sealed qualification for the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. It will be their team debut at the prestigious season-ending event.

In Saturday’s semi-final clash in Shanghai, Doumbia and Reboul saved all four break points they faced but were still unable to advance to their maiden Masters 1000 final. Bopanna and Ebden, champions in Indian Wells and Doha already this season, cruised through the Match Tie-break to set a championship-match meeting with seventh seeds Marcel Granollers and Horacio Zeballos in China.

Can Hubert Hurkacz’s booming delivery help the Pole go all the way at the Rolex Shanghai Masters?

The 16th-seeded Pole produced a serving masterclass on Saturday to down Sebastian Korda 6-3, 6-4 and reach the championship match at the ATP Masters 1000 event. Hurkacz did not face a break point as he consistently found unreturnable deliveries to prevent Korda making any inroads on return. That dominance on serve allowed him to hit freely on return, and he notched a break in each set to ease to a 77-minute victory.

“I’m just really happy with my performance today,” said Hurkacz, who won 85 per cent (40/47) of points behind his first serve in the semi-final clash. “I was serving well, playing some good groundstrokes and definitely putting pressure on Sebi from the ground.”

As well as moving Hurkacz within one win of lifting his second Masters 1000 trophy, Saturday’s triumph against Korda also further boosted the Pole’s late charge towards the season-ending Nitto ATP Finals. He is up three spots to 13th in the Pepperstone ATP Live Race To Turin, and will rise to 11th if he can defeat Andrey Rublev or Grigor Dimitrov in Sunday’s final in Shanghai.

Through the final 🎾💪@HubertHurkacz gets the win against Korda

With both players serving well #ShotQuality;
Hurkacz 9.4
Korda 9.1
Both #InAttack 28%, #ConversionScore becomes 🔑 to the match ⚔️#TennisInsights | @atptour | @SH_RolexMasters pic.twitter.com/2IQelrHbNv

— Tennis Insights (@tennis_insights) October 14, 2023

Korda’s impressive run to the semi-finals had included upsetting Daniil Medvedev and edging Ben Shelton in a quarter-final thriller. The 23-year-old American was unable to bring the best of his all-court game to Qizhong Forest Sports City Arena on Saturday, however, largely due to Hurkacz’s perfectly executed gameplan.

The World No. 16 struck the ball with pace and precision from deep to a level that Korda struggled to match, while he was almost irresistible on serve. Hurkacz sent down 14 aces and repeatedly deflated Korda’s attempts to settle in return games with well-placed deliveries at key moments.

“I’m working on being difficult to play against,” said Hurkacz, who has now fired 77 aces across his Shanghai run, the most in the draw. “It’s the same with every opponent. They try to come out with their best foot forward that day and they’re trying to [implement] their tactics or plan against you. You’ve just got to stay mentally strong and really battle.”

With his triumph, Hurkacz advanced to a Masters 1000 final for the third consecutive season. The Pole lifted the trophy in Miami in 2021 and was a finalist in Montreal in 2022. If he can overcome fifth seed Rublev or 18th seed Dimitrov in Sunday’s championship match, Hurkacz willl claim his seventh ATP Tour crown.

In their first season as a team, Rohan Bopanna and Matthew Ebden will compete in the Nitto ATP Finals. The Indian-Australian duo qualified for the season finale by reaching the final of the Rolex Shanghai Masters.

Bopanna and Ebden will join Ivan Dodig/Austin Krajicek and Wesley Koolhof/Neal Skupski at the year-end championships, which will be held at the Pala Alpitour in Turin from 12-19 November.

After losing their first two matches together this season, Bopanna and Ebden made the final in Rotterdam. They have not looked back since.

The duo triumphed at the ATP Masters 1000 event in Indian Wells and also lifted the trophy in Doha. Bopanna and Ebden also reached a major final at the US Open and another Masters 1000 final in Madrid.

This will be Bopanna’s fourth appearance in the Nitto ATP Finals and his first since 2015. All four of his qualifications have come with different partners. Ebden will compete in the season finale for the first time.