Nuno Borges is the only seed remaining in Auckland, where he will battle qualifier Zizou Bergs during semifinal action on Friday. Another qualifier, Nishesh Basavareddy, will face familiar foe Gael Monfils.

Gael Monfils vs. (Q) Nishesh Basavareddy

Monfils and Basavareddy will already be going head-to-head for the second time this season when they clash in the ASB Classic semifinals on Friday afternoon. It will be a rematch of the Brisbane first round last week, when Monfils prevailed 6-4, 4-6, 6-1.

Gaining valuable experience at a rapid rate, Basavareddy may be poised to turn the tide in Auckland. The 19-year-old successfully qualified for the main draw and has earned the first three main-tour match victories of his career (not including one at the NextGen ATP Finals) over Francisco Comesana, defending champion Alejandro Tabilo, and No. 8 seed Alex Michelsen. Motivation could be a factor, as this is by far the biggest match of Basavareddy’s career whereas Monfils has very few Grand Slam appearances left in his career and has to be looking ahead to the Australian Open. The 38-year-old Frenchman has looked far less than 100 percent physically this week, too, despite successfully battling his way into the semis.

Pick: Basavareddy in 2

(7) Nuno Borges vs. (Q) Zizou Bergs

Borges and Bergs will also be squaring off for the second time on Friday. Their only previous encounter came in the final of a 2020 Futures event, where Borges triumphed 6-4, 7-6(6). The rematch looks like an entirely even matchup on paper. Borges may have an edge in that he has experience at the business end of ATP tournaments (he captured a title last summer on the clay courts of Bastad), but Bergs is a marginally superior hard-court player.

After taking care of clay-court specialists Luciano Darderi and Mariano Navone, Borges needed a third-set tiebreaker to outlast Jakub Mensik on Thursday evening. That is a very good result for the world No. 36 from Portugal, but it’s one that could have him running on fumes. Bergs has dropped only one set this week and has otherwise completely dominated his opponents, so a slight advantage could go to the Belgian.

Pick: Bergs in 3