GSTAAD/WASHINGTON, July 15, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)
Soon after Raphael Collignon upset World No. 5 Ben Shelton in the third round at Roland-Garros for the biggest win of his nascent career, the young 24-year-old Belgian reached a career-high ranking of No. 42.
Seeded at an ATP Tour event for the first time, at this week’s EFG Swiss Open Gstaad, Collignon looked to advance to his first quarterfinal on clay at this ATP Tour 250-series event and fourth last-eight overall – he’s already been a quarterfinalist on indoor and outdoor hard courts and grass – when he took on 83rd-ranked Lorenzo Sonego of Italy. The 31-year-old Italian is always a tough out on any surface despite his 8-11 win-loss record this season.
Quarter-Final bound 💪
Collignon reaches the last 8 after defeating Sonego 7-6 7-6!#SwissOpenGstaad pic.twitter.com/HEhlFJM2Eu
— Tennis TV (@TennisTV) July 15, 2026
Sonego came into Wednesday’s second-round match seeking his 29th tour-level quarterfinal berth – he’s 11-17 in quarterfinals – and first one on clay since 2024 at Umag. He was also attempting to secure his first Top-50 win on clay since defeating No. 47 Miomir Kecmanovic at Madrid earlier this season. However, it was not meant to be for Sonego.
Although both sets of their match were decided by tiebreakers, it was Collignon who prevailed, 7-6 (2), 7-6 (5), in two hours and eight minutes on Roy Emerson Arena. The Belgian No. 2, who played steadier when it mattered and handled the challenging conditions best, won on his fourth match-point opportunity. He hit 20 winners, made only 11 unforced errors and outpointed Sonego 82-73 in collecting his 13th tour-level win of the season.
View this post on Instagram
“It was a very tough match with tough conditions,” said Collignon, who has had to adjust to the Swiss Alps altitude this week, playing in conditions that are more than 1,000 meters above sea level. “Playing at altitude it’s not easy to breathe. It was a battle of serves and I’m happy to be through. I have tomorrow to adjust and to spend one hour in these conditions because Friday will be a tough match.”
In Friday’s quarterfinal round, Collignon will face No. 3 seed Valentin Vacherot of Monaco, who defeated No. 51 Yannick Hanfmann of Germany, 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, in two hours and nine minutes on Court 1.
Around the Roy Emerson Arena
• No. 4 seed Arthur Rinderknech of France took on 178th-ranked French qualifier Clement Tabur for a berth in the quarterfinal round. The match was tied 5-5 in the opening set after 58 minutes of play before being delayed by rain for two hours. When play resumed, Tabur eked out a first-set tie-break 11-9. Then, Rinderknech rallied to beat Tabur, 6-7 (9), 7-6 (5), 7-5, in three hours and 21 minutes.
Rinderknech finished with 16 aces and outpointed Tabur 133-128.
• Fresh from his upset of No. 5 seed Ignacio Buse of Peru, 85th-ranked Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece took on 186th-ranked Swiss wild card Jerome Kym in Wednesday evening’s featured match with a quarterfinal berth riding on the outcome.
However, darkness suspended the Tsitsipas-Kym match at 5-all in third set, after two hours and 10 minutes of play. Tsitsipas won the first set 6-4, then Kym leveled the second-round match by winning the second set 7-6 (2). They will resume play on Thursday.
• In doubles, Jakub Paul of Switzerland and Ryan Seggerman of the United States advanced to the quarterfinals with a 6-3, 5-7, 10-7 win over Sergio Martos Gornes and Jaume Munar of Spain in one hour and 29 minutes on Court 1.
Also, Sander Gille of Belgium and Sem Verbeek of the Netherlands advanced to the last eight with a 74-minute, 6-4, 6-4 win over Fernando Romboli of Brazil and John-Patrick Smith of Australia on Court 1.
Wednesday’s EFG Swiss Open results
Thursday’s EFG Swiss Open order of play
By the numbers
Raphael Collignon of Belgium, ranked No. 42, is seeded at an ATP Tour event for the first time in his career. After defeating Lorenzo Sonego on Wednesday’s, he is through to his first quarterfinal on clay. He is 7-1 versus players ranked outside the Top 50 this season.
“Quotable …”
“Great tennis from my side. I’m particularly happy with how I served and that first ball after the serve was on fire today. … I want to build on that win and proceed with confidence and determination in the next one.”
– No. 85 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, who upset No. 5 seed Ignacio Buse of Peru on Tuesday. It ended a five-match losing streak against Top-50 opponents.
