ATP Tour

Cerundolo’s six-game streak stuns Ruud in Gstaad

Juan Manuel Cerundolo engineered a remarkable late momentum swing to pull off a milestone victory Friday at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad.

The No. 109 in the PIF ATP Rankings recovered from 0-3 in the third set against Casper Ruud to prevail 6-2, 1-6, 6-3 in a topsy-turvy quarter-final at the Swiss ATP 250. After a confident start, Cerundolo appeared to have lost control of his maiden Lexus ATP head2Head meeting with Ruud, but he stunned the World No. 13 with a six-game burst to notch the biggest win of his career by PIF ATP Ranking.

💪 JUANREAL 💪@jmcerundolo reels off six straight games in the decider to snap Ruud’s Gstaad winning streak and reach the semis! 👏@SwissOpenGstaad | #SwissOpenGstaad pic.twitter.com/9Hda1SaeEq

— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 18, 2025

“It was pretty tough. He was being much more aggressive than me and he was leading me easily then,” reflected Cerundolo in his on-court interview. “I think I stuck there mentally, didn’t let the match go and I came out at 0-3 with the wind in my favour. With the help of the wind and maybe some mistakes from him, it was 1-3.

“Then suddenly it was 2-3, and when I was only one break down, I started to feel confident again and battled again more. I was more confident, more aggressive, and started hitting harder. I think that was the key to my comeback in the final set.”

Cerundolo converted six of nine break points he earned, according to Infosys ATP Stats, en route to ending 2022-23 champion Ruud’s perfect record in Gstaad after 10 matches. The 23-year-old, who won his only previous ATP Tour title in Cordoba in 2021, is now guaranteed on Monday to return to the Top 100 of the PIF ATP Rankings for the first time since October 2023. Cerundolo is currently up 20 spots to No. 89 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

Saturday’s semi-final schedule in Gstaad will feature an all-South American clash between Cerundolo and Ignacio Buse. The Peruvian qualifier Buse overcame Roman Andres Burruchaga 6-3, 3-6, 6-1 to reach the last four in just his second ATP Tour event.

Second seed Alexander Bublik hit a personal clay-court milestone in his Gstaad quarter-final against Francisco Comesana. The Kazakhstani earned a 6-4, 6-3 victory to post 10 tour-level wins on clay in a season for the first time in his career.

The Roland Garros quarter-finalist Bublik saved both break points he faced in his 72-minute triumph against Comesana. Standing between him and his first ATP Tour final appearance on clay will be Arthur Cazaux, who outlasted home wild card Jerome Kym 7-6(3), 3-6, 7-5.