Top seed Andrey Rublev will face French qualifier Valentin Royer in the second round of the 2025 Hangzhou Open. The match is scheduled for Saturday, September 20. Here’s our Andrey Rublev vs Valentin Royer prediction. This preview will also include an Andrey Rublev vs Valentin Royer pick.
Andrey Rublev vs Valentin Royer Preview
Andrey Rublev is the top seed in Hangzhou and the only top 15 player in the draw. This will be his first tournament since the US Open, where he lost in the fourth round to Felix Auger-Aliassime. Rublev has reached the quarterfinals in three of his last five hard-court tournaments. Overall, Rublev has compiled a 16-10 record on hard courts in 2025 and won his only title so far at the Qatar Open in Doha.
Rublev has performed decently on Asian soil before, winning a title in Hong Kong and also making the Shanghai Masters final once. He will be one of the favorites in this tournament this week as he attempts to go all the way and win his second title of the season. Because he is seeded, Rublev got a bye in the second round.
Valentin Royer is a qualifier in Hangzhou. The Frenchman won two rounds in qualifying against Charles Chen and then Elliot Spizzirri. In the main draw, Royer beat Aleksandar Kovacevic in three sets in two and a half hours.
It was a tense opening match in which Royer lost the first set 6-4, but leveled the match by winning the second set in a tie-break. He had all the momentum after that, and broke Kovacevic twice in the third set. Royer hit 30 winners to 9 unforced errors in the match. That included 12 aces and only one double fault in the match. Royer landed 69% of first serves in play and won 79% of first serve points (49/62). He won 57% of second serve points (16/28) and saved four of six break points in the match.
Andrey Rublev vs Valentin Royer Head-To-Head
Rublev and Royer will meet for the first time in Hangzhou.
Andrey Rublev vs Valentin Royer Prediction
The smart move here is backing Rublev to ease to victory on his Hangzhou debut. He’s had some solid results in China throughout his career, and he’s playing a newcomer at this level in Royer, who is undeniably talented but lacks the weapons to trouble a player like Rublev, who has years of elite-level experience.