Alexander Bublik capped a landmark week in Hong Kong by taking the title and earning entry into the ATP Top 10. The victory moves him from No. 11 to No. 10 when the new rankings are released on Monday, making him the first player representing Kazakhstan to reach the ATP Top 10.

“Well, I have no words,” he said after defeating Lorenzo Musetti in straight sets the final, 7-6 (2), 6-3.

“I mean, the only goal for this season was to achieve the Top 10, and the first week I’m winning the title, I’m into the Top 10. If you told me that last April, I would never believe you.”

The result is the latest in a steady rise: Bublik first broke the Top 100 in 2017, reached the Top 50 in 2019 and climbed into the Top 20 in 2024. His recent form underlines that progression. Since last May he has won 34 of 43 matches and lifted five titles in the past seven months: Halle, Gstaad, Kitzbuhel and Hangzhou last year, and now Hong Kong this season.

The Hong Kong run was far from straightforward. In the semifinals Bublik recovered from a set down to beat Marcos Giron, 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. The final’s opening set against Musetti was tightly contested; Bublik saved break points in both his 4-all and 5-all service games and prevailed in the tiebreak. Once he secured that first set, his level rose and he closed out the match by winning four of the last five games, finishing the contest after one hour and 38 minutes.

Musetti, who received attention from the trainer in the final for what appeared to be an arm issue, extended an unfortunate streak of final losses to seven, but will see his ranking projected into the Top 5 on Monday. “It’s not easy to speak after a loss, especially in the final, and it seems like it’s not my match,” the Italian said. “But congrats to Sascha for the amazing achievements, not just today but he had an amazing season last year, and he definitely couldn’t start better this year.”

Bublik also offered kind words for Musetti during his trophy speech.

While much of the U.S. sporting conversation has yet to catch up, American tennis players have begun the Australian swing with real momentum. The defending United Cup champions arrive with Taylor Fritz and Coco Gauff leading the charge, and U.S. competitors have also advanced deep at Brisbane, Auckland, and Hong Kong.

The United Cup semifinal is a replay of last year’s final, a 2-0 victory for the U.S., with the same four singles players returning: Fritz, Gauff, Iga Swiatek and Hubert Hurkacz.

Fritz and Hurkacz have met six times, Fritz holding a 4-2 edge. Their United Cup meeting last year went to a third-set tiebreak before Fritz prevailed. This week Fritz has been less fluent, with losses to Sebastian Baez and Stefanos Tsitsipas and a narrow win over Jaume Munar. Hurkacz’s results include a win over Alexander Zverev and a loss to Alex De Minaur. Will Fritz’s extra day of rest matter?

The match everyone has circled is Swiatek vs. Gauff. Swiatek won 11 of their first 12 meetings, but Gauff has taken the last three, all in straight sets, including a 6-4, 6-4 result at this event last year. Gauff needs more from her still-developing serve, while Swiatek must be steadier, particularly from the forehand, than she was against Coco in 2025. Prediction: U.S. wins 2-1

On the tour lead-ins, Jessica Pegula is into the Brisbane semifinals after victories over Anna Kalinskaya, Dayana Yastremska and Liudmila Samsonova. Pegula reached Australian Open quarters in 2021, 2022 and 2023 and leads Marta Kostyuk 4-1, having beaten her twice in 2025.

Brandon Nakashima and Aleksander Kovacevic meet for the first time in a matchup that pits a younger, higher-ranked Nakashima (24 to 27; 33 to 58) against a hot Kovacevic, who has beaten Nick Kyrgios, Cam Norrie and Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard. “He’s as tough as a two-dollar steak.”

Alex Michelsen, coming off a career-high No. 30 and a run to the fourth round in last year’s Australian Open, has wins this week over Learner Tien and Sebastian Korda and will try for his first victory against Daniil Medvedev. Iva Jovic, 18 and listed as height “N/A,” has risen to 35 in the rankings after two seasons and faces Elina Svitolina in her first meeting with the Ukrainian. Marcos Giron meets Alexander Bublik in the late slot in Hong Kong.

Coleman Wong produced a milestone on home soil, reaching the first ATP quarterfinal of his career with a 1-6, 7-5, 7-5 victory over Gabriel Diallo at the ATP 250 in Hong Kong. The 21-year-old also became the first man representing Hong Kong to reach an ATP quarterfinal in the Open Era.

Wong is no stranger to breaking new ground. Last year he qualified for the US Open and became the first man representing Hong Kong to play in the main draw of a Grand Slam in the Open Era, advancing to the third round there.

Against Diallo, the match swung dramatically. Diallo dominated the opening set, taking it 6-1 in about 30 minutes. In the second set Wong surged to a 5-2 lead, only to see Diallo recover to 5-all and earn double break point that would have allowed him to serve for the set. Wong held, then broke to take the set.

The third set followed a similar pattern. Wong again moved ahead 5-2, Diallo forced the score back to 5-all, but Wong steadied, held to go up 6-5 and then secured the decisive break to close out the win.

The victory over the No. 40-ranked Diallo stands as the second-biggest win of Wong’s career by opponent ranking. His biggest came last year in Miami when he beat No. 14 Ben Shelton in the second round of the Masters 1000 event.

“It sounds unreal,” he said after the grueling victory. “It’s not easy to be an athlete in Hong Kong. Coming from such a small place and now being in the quarterfinals of an ATP, I just want to keep going.”

Wong offered further reflection on the match in his on-court interview. “Gabriel is such a great player,” Wong said in his on-court interview. “We pushed each other to the limit, and at the end, I don’t know—I was up 5-2, then he came back to 5-all, and I was like, ‘Wow, I don’t know if I can close this out.’ And then at the end, I just kept believing in myself, kept believing in what I was working on in these past years.”

He now faces the top seed, No. 7-ranked Lorenzo Musetti, who recovered from a set down to defeat Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-7 (3), 6-2, 6-4 earlier in the day.