ATP Tour

Cerundolo sinks Ruud, top seed Bublik out on day of upsets in Gstaad

The top four seeds failed to survive a rocky Alpine road through Friday’s action at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad, where Alexander Bublik, Casper Ruud, Valentin Vacherot and Arthur Rinderknech all slipped to defeat at the clay ATP 250 event.

Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who rallied from two sets and a double break down to stun the physically struggling World No. 1 Jannik Sinner at Roland Garros in May, rediscovered his penchant for a hard-earned upset by downing Ruud 3-6, 7-5, 6-2. The second-seeded Ruud led 4-2 in the second set, but was unable to prevent Cerundolo from completing an impressive quarter-final turnaround after two hours and 15 minutes.

“I put all my energy into trying to feel my best,” Cerundolo said in his on-court interview. “He was beating me well. He was doing better and a break up with the wind in his favour. He made maybe two mistakes so that I could come back in the second set. The break point was unbelievable… Then I managed to win the game and I started playing really well.”

The No. 45 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, Cerundolo is the only player to have defeated Ruud in Gstaad, where he also prevailed against the 2021 and 2022 champion in the 2025 quarter-finals. The sixth-seeded Argentine will now prepare for a semi-final meeting with Belgium’s Raphael Collignon, who earlier sank third seed Valentin Vacherot 7-6(7), 4-6, 7-5.

Meanwhile Quentin Halys settled in quickly on the second day of his rain-interrupted meeting with top seed Alexander Bublik to notch an upset of his own on the Swiss mountain clay. The French World No. 90 returned to court serving at 5-6 in the deciding set of the pair’s second-round clash, and soon held firm for a 6-7(4), 6-4, 7-6(5) victory.

“Coming back at 5-6 in the third set, it was strange, but I think the level was really high from my side yesterday and even more today,” Halys said. “I’m so pleased. He is such a good player and he serves crazy good here with the conditions, so I’m so happy I managed to go through this match.”

Halys won 92 per cent (46/50) of points behind his first serve against World No. 11 Bublik, according to Infosys ATP Stats. However, the 29-year-old was unable to back up his victory when he returned to court to face Aleksandr Shevchenko, who overcame home hope Dominic Stricker 7-6(5), 6-2 in another match suspended from Thursday evening, in the quarter-finals. Shevchenko triumphed 7-6(5), 6-3 to set a semi-final showdown with Stefanos Tsitsipas.

In the concluding quarter-final showdown of the day, Tsitsipas upset fourth seed Arthur Rinderknech 6-3, 3-6, 6-3 in one hour and 41 minutes. With the victory, the Greek advanced to his first tour-level semi-final since defeating Felix Auger-Aliassime to win the Dubai crown last year.