After a thrilling final day of round-robin action at the Fiera Milano, four men remain at the Next Gen ATP Finals with ambitions of capturing the trophy.

Stefanos Tsitsipas and Andrey Rublev will meet for the first time at tour-level on Friday, in a repeat of a blockbuster first-round encounter on the ATP Challenger Tour last season. With both players yet to enter the Top 100 of the ATP Rankings for the first time, Rublev battled past Tsitsipas 6-2, 3-6, 7-6(7) in Quimper. But a lot has changed, for both men, since that meeting in France.

Top seed Tsitsipas arrives into the semi-finals with a 3-0 unbeaten record in Milan, dropping just one set in round-robin play to Jaume Munar. After a breakthrough season on the ATP World Tour, which included capturing his first title at the Intrum Stockholm Open, the World No. 15 will be looking to cap his stellar season by capturing the title at the Fiera Milano in Milan.

“[Andrey] won’t give me that many opportunities like Hubert [Hurkacz] today,” said Tsitsipas. “It’s going to be a fight. It’s going to be tough match to deal with.

“I’m going to have to be ready for that, for the battle. I’m going to have to be ready mentally to work hard to get that win.”

As the only returning player from the inaugural Next Gen ATP Finals 12 months ago, 2017 runner-up Rublev will be eager to make his way back to the championship match after falling to Hyeon Chung last year. The Moscow native qualified for the semi-finals with a 2-1 record, defeating Taylor Fritz and Liam Caruana in his first and final group stage matches.

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In the first semi-final, Alex de Minaur will meet Spaniard Jaume Munar for a place in Saturday’s final. Like Tsitsipas and Rublev, the pair has previously met below tour-level. On both occasions, Munar defeated the Australian in straight sets to win trophies in Spain. But De Minaur will be confident of notching his first win against the Mallorcan after an impressive Group B performance.

De Minaur dropped one set in three matches to emerge as the winner of Group B, beating Rublev, Fritz and Caruana to book his place in the last four. The 19-year-old, who reached tour-level finals in Sydney and Washington, D.C, this year, will be aiming to maintain his high level of performance as he bids to reach another championship match in 2018.

“Going into each day you’ve got different tactics. And tomorrow will be different,” said De Minaur. “But I just want to go out there and keep doing what I’ve been doing. I’ve been serving well. I’ve been playing confident and just leaving it all out there.”

Munar’s chances of reaching the last four appeared bleak after losing his opening two matches in Milan, but an impressive three-set victory over Frances Tiafoe, coupled with Tsitsipas’ victory over Hubert Hurkacz, earned the Spaniard a shot at reaching the championship match. After two victories below tour-level against his semi-final opponent, will Munar be able to maintain his winning record against De Minaur on such a big stage? That remains to be seen.

The 2018 Next Gen ATP Finals is down to four players.

On Thursday evening, top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas continued his strong play, defeating Polish No. 1 Hubert Hurkacz 4-1, 4-3(3), 4-1 in 62 minutes. That victory set the semi-final match-ups at the Fiera Milano: Tsitsipas will face 2017 Andrey Rublev, and Group B winner Alex de Minaur will clash against Spaniard Jaume Munar.

Tsitsipas has shown why he is the top seed here in Milan, winning all three of his round-robin matches to top Group A. The Greek has lost just one set all week, coming in his first match of the week against Munar.

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Hurkacz appeared ready to turn the match around in the second set when he earned a mini-break to take a 2/0 lead in the tie-break. But Tsitsipas quickly reeled off seven consecutive points to regain control of the match.

At that point, Hurkacz’s chances of advancing to the last four appeared bleak, needing to triumph in five sets. And Tsitsipas wasted no time, eliminating the Pole by saving all three break points he faced in the final set.

Five-time former champion Novak Djokovic, the 2018 year-end No. 1 in the ATP Rankings, Alexander Zverev and first-time participant all practiced on Thursday on Centre Court at The O2 ahead of the Nitto ATP Finals.

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Singles – Group Guga Kuerten
[1] Novak Djokovic (SRB)
[3] Alexander Zverev (GER)
[5] Marin Cilic (CRO)
[8] John Isner (USA)

Singles – Group Lleyton Hewitt
[2] Roger Federer (SUI)
[4] Kevin Anderson (RSA)
[6] Dominic Thiem (AUT)
[7] Kei Nishikori (JPN)

Eight different countries are represented in the elite eight-man singles field for the third consecutive year, with Group Lleyton Hewitt matches beginning on Sunday, 11 November. Group Guga Kuerten matches are scheduled to begin on Monday, 12 November. Gustavo Kuerten won the 2000 season finale, when the event was held in Lisbon, while Lleyton Hewitt won two titles in 2001 (in Sydney) and 2002 (in Shanghai).

Karen Khachanov, who beat Djokovic for his first ATP World Tour Masters 1000 title on Sunday at the Rolex Paris Masters, and Borna Coric are first and second alternates respectively in the singles field.

Doubles – Group Knowles/Nestor
[1] Oliver Marach (AUT) / Mate Pavic (CRO)
[3] Lukasz Kubot (POL) / Marcelo Melo (BRA)
[5] Mike Bryan (USA) / Jack Sock (USA)
[8] Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) / Nicolas Mahut (FRA)

Doubles – Group Llodra/Santoro
[2] Juan Sebastian Cabal (COL) / Robert Farah (COL)
[4] Jamie Murray (GBR) / Bruno Soares (BRA)
[6] Raven Klaasen (RSA) / Michael Venus (NZL)
[7] Nikola Mektic (CRO) / Alexander Peya (AUT)

Oliver Marach and Mate Pavic, who have clinched the year-end No. 1 ATP Doubles Team Ranking and have a 4-5 record in tour-level finals in 2018, lead Group Knowles/Nestor, which begins play on 12 November. Colombians Juan Sebastian Cabal and Robert Farah, the second seeds, headline Group Llodra/Santoro that starts on 11 November. Henri Kontinen and John Peers, winners of the Nitto ATP Finals title for the past two years, will serve as first doubles alternates at the season finale. Jean-Julien Rojer and Horia Tecau, winners of the 2015 edition, are second doubles alternates.

Mark Knowles and Daniel Nestor won the 2007 year-end doubles title, while Frenchmen Michael Llodra and Fabrice Santoro picked up the 2005 trophy.