This Saturday, the ATP 250 event in Montpellier, in the south of France, features two semi-finals, with four semi-finalists seeding the tournament's top four.
A semi-final was played between top seed Rune and fourth seed Čurić.
Rune defeated American Michael Mo in two sets in Friday's quarter-finals to reach the semi-finals of the season for the second time this season and the 15th of his career tour-level semi-finals after the Brisbane final. The Dane, on the other hand, completed his 100th career tour victory when he defeated Ruiz in the second round.
Čurić sealed his place in the last four with a comfortable 6-3 6-4 win over Italy's Copoli in Friday's quarter-finals, with Saturday's semi-final being his first meeting with Rune. The semi-final ended with Rune withdrawing from the semi-final when Čurić took a 6-3 4-1 lead, and Čurić also reached his first tour final since his fairytale victory in Cincinnati in 2022.
The other semi-final will be between second seed Bublik and third seed Aliassime. Bublik, who won Montpellier in 2022, defeated former Russian Shevchenko 4-6 6-3 6-4 in Friday's quarter-finals. Third seed Aliassime reached the semi-finals for the first time this season with a 7-5 6-1 win over French wildcard Harold Mayotte in the quarter-finals. Bublik and Aliassime have played each other three times before, with the Canadians leading 2-1.
In the semi-finals, second seed Bublik played aggressively, losing the first set, but then relied on powerful shots and accurate serve to pull one back. The 26-year-old kept his composure in the deciding set and after two hours and 39 minutes of hard-fought battle, Bublik sealed the victory on the second match point, narrowly beating Ariassime 4-6 6-4 6-4 to reach the final of the Montpellier Open, just one win away from his fourth Tour title.
Reaching the final, Bublik was excited: "I'm very happy to make it through, especially on the indoor court. I'm happy to get through it and I'll try to win again tomorrow. It was his sixth tour win of the season, and the Kazakh brother tied his head-to-head record with Aliassime at 2-2. This season, Bublik has started well and progressed to the semi-finals in Adelaide.
In tonight's final, Bublik will take on Čurić, both of whom currently hold three Tour titles, and who will lift their fourth trophy after tonight's final? (Home of Tennis Author: Mei).