ATP Tour

Goffin denies #NextGenATP Landaluce in Gstaad opener

David Goffin announced his return to clay-court action Tuesday with an impressive opening win against #NextGenATP Martin Landaluce at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad.

The 34-year-old Belgian, who was sidelined through May and June due to a foot injury, prevailed 7-6(2), 6-3 amid windy conditions at the ATP 250 event. After letting slip seven break points in the first set, according to Infosys ATP Stats, Goffin delivered a watertight tie-break and rode his momentum through a two-hour victory.

“It feels great to be back 10 years after my final,” said Goffin, who fell to Dominic Thiem in the 2015 final in Gstaad. “I’m very happy to win my first match after injury on a nice centre court with super nice landscape, it’s the best place to come back and win.”

Landaluce was competing in Gstaad through the Next Gen Accelerator, which offers players aged 20 and under increased opportunity to compete on the ATP Tour. The 19-year-old Spaniard, who is the No. 138 player in the PIF ATP Rankings, was aiming for his second tour-level win after winning his first-round match against Jaume Munar at the ATP Masters 1000 in Miami last year.

“This programme allows me to escalate in the rankings more easily because I can play tournaments that I wouldn’t be able to without this help,” said Landaluce, who is eighth in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. “I’m very privileged and grateful to have this because this is a nice tournament. I think it’s a nice programme and hopefully it can help other young players.”

_{^{Martin Landaluce is the No. 138 player in the PIF ATP Rankings. Photo: Breakpoint Images / EFG Swiss Open Gstaad 2025}}

Goffin will next face Juan Manuel Cerundolo, who earlier defeated last year’s semi-finalist Jan-Lennard Struff 6-3, 3-6, 6-3. The Argentine, who reached the final at the ATP Challenger Tour event in Braunschweig last week, used the high altitude to dictate with his heavy topspin forehand in his maiden Lexus ATP Head2Head clash with Struff.

Other winners on Tuesday included seventh seed Francisco Comesana and qualifier Francesco Passaro. Comesana defeated Marco Trungelliti 6-3, 6-4, while Passaro upset eighth seed Arthur Rinderknech 6-1, 7-5.

Spaniard Roberto Carballes Baena beat countryman Carlos Taberner 1-6, 6-2, 7-6(5) and Swiss wild card Jerome Kym earned his first tour-level win with a 7-5, 4-6, 7-5 triumph against Calvin Hemery. Alexander Shevchenko overcame former World No. 3 Stan Wawrinka 6-3, 6-2 to reach the second round. Wawrinka reached the final at the ATP 250 event in 2005.

Watch Tuesday Highlights from Gstaad: