ATP Tour

Bublik kick-starts Kitzbühel title defence; Halys, Baez upset seeds

Alexander Bublik began his title defence at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel on Wednesday when he defeated Facundo Diaz Acosta 6-3, 7-5 to advance to the quarter-finals.

The top seed, who last week lost in his opening match in Gstaad, where he was also the defending champion, ensured no such thing would happen in Kitzbühel. The 29-year-old earned a composed one-hour, 19-minute second-round victory, in which he erased the only break point he faced.

"It is never easy to start, especially against someone whose game is suited for clay courts," Bublik said. "I think I played a solid match. I used my chances and closed out the win in peace."

The Kazakhstani will next face Alex Molcan for a spot in the semi-finals. Earlier in the day, Molcan defeated Daniel Altmaier 6-3, 3-6, 7-5 in two hours and 25 minutes.

Quentin Halys, Sebastian Baez and Mariano Navone all scored second-round wins against seeded opponents on a lively Wednesday at the ATP 250 event.

Frenchman Halys moved past second seed Valentin Vacherot 6-3, 6-4 to reach his fourth tour-level quarter-final on clay and ninth overall. The 29-year-old saved the only break point he faced to earn his fifth Top-20 victory, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.

"I think I played well. One of the best matches of my year. I was serving quite good and maybe he did not play his best match," Halys said. "But still, I am happy with the way I played from the first point to the last and I was really focused and made many balls and made him play many high balls."

World No. 19 Vacherot was competing in just his second event since he withdrew from Roland Garros in May due to a stress fracture in his foot. Halys has yet to drop a set on debut at the clay-court event and will next meet Navone, who beat sixth seed Jan-Lennard Struff 6-0, 6-3.

Watch highlights of Halys vs. Vacherot R2 clash:

Navone captured his maiden tour-level title on clay in Bucharest in April and has looked comfortable on the surface this week in Kitzbühel, where he has not dropped a set through his first two matches. The No. 47 player in the PIF ATP Rankings Navone has now earned 18 tour-level victories this year, matching his previous-best tally from 2024 and 2025.

Baez sent third seed Arthur Rinderknech packing with a hard-fought 7-6(6), 2-6, 6-4 triumph in two hours and 27 minutes. Six of Baez’s seven tour-level titles have come on clay and the Argentine is a former champion in Kitzbühel, having lifted the trophy in 2023. Baez will next play Yannick Hanfmann after the German downed Marco Trungelliti 6-4, 7-6(2).

In other action, there were wins for seeds Ignacio Buse and Tomas Martin Etcheverry. Fifth seed and Hamburg champion Buse beat Swiss qualifier Kilian Feldbausch 2-6, 6-2, 6-2, while fourth seed Etcheverry overcame Austrian qualifier Jurij Rodionov 6-2, 7-6(4). Buse will meet Etcheverry in the last eight.