After A Day Of Upsets At Gstaad, Cerundolo Is Top Seed Remaining

Juan Manuel Cerundolo
Juan Manuel Cerundolo (photo: Breakpoint Images by Meierhans)

GSTAAD/WASHINGTON, July 17, 2026 (by Michael Dickens)

Friday in the Swiss Alps proved to be a rocky road for the top four seeds at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad. All were eliminated, including World No. 11 and defending champion Alexander Bublik. The top seed from Kazakhstan was three points from advancing to the quarterfinals. Instead, he fell in a third-set tiebreaker and was gone. The other three top seeds – No. 2 Casper Ruud of Norway, No. 3 Valentin Vacherot of Monaco, and No. 4 Arthur Rinderknech of France – all lost in the quarterfinal round.

At the end of the day, only two seeds remained: No. 6 Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina, who was a finalist last year, and No. 7 Raphael Collignon of Belgium, making his tournament debut. They will meet in one semifinal on Saturday, while unseeded Aleksandr Shevchenko of Kazakhstan and Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece will play in the second semifinal. 

A new, first-time Gstaad champion will be crowned on Sunday afternoon.

Halys notches upset of Bublik, then falls to Shevchenko

Quentin Halys was locked in a close, tight match with defending champion and top seed Alexander Bublik Thursday evening when rain cancelled play with the Frenchman serving to stay in the match at 5-6 (0-15) in the third set. 

Fast forward to Friday afternoon and the World No. 11 Bublik from Kazakhstan and 90th-ranked Halys returned to Roy Emerson Arena to finish their second-round match. The resumption lasted only about 11 minutes but it was worth the time and effort for the 2024 Gstaad champion Halys.

As it happened, Halys went on to hold serve, then played a brilliant tiebreaker against Bublik by mixing power with finesse – and an occasional drop shot for the element of surprise. He won it 7-5, after capping a 16-shot rally with an inside-out forehand winner to triumph, 6-7 (4), 6-4, 7-6 (5), in two hours and 22 minutes.

The victory by Halys, his 13th of the season, advanced him to his eighth ATP Tour quarterfinal against 100th-ranked Aleksandr Shevchenko of Kazakhstan, who completed his rain-delayed second-round match with a 7-6 (5), 6-2 victory over 360th-ranked Swiss wild card Dominic Stricker in one hour and 28 minutes on Court 1.

Later, Shevchenko triumphed over Halys, 7-6 (5), 6-3, in one hour and 36 minutes, winning on his seventh match-point opportunity, to move into Saturday’s semifinals after saving five of five break points and outpointing Halys 75-64.

Collignon, Cerundolo and Tsitsipas advance to last four

In his Gstaad debut this week, Belgium’s Raphael Collignon has advanced to his second ATP Tour semifinal – and first since Brussels last October – after pulling out a 7-6 (7), 4-6, 7-5 victory over No. 3 seed Valentin Vacherot of Monaco in two hours and 11 minutes Friday afternoon.

The 42nd-ranked Collignon became just the fourth Belgian to reach the last four in Gstaad – and first since David Goffin in 2015. He improved to 7-8 against Top-30 opponents.

Against Vacherot, Collignon struck 14 aces, won 82 percent (49 of 60) of his first-serve points and converted two of four break-point chances. He outpointed Vacherot 98-97.

Next, Collignon will face No. 6 seed Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina, who was a finalist last year. The 45th-ranked Cerundolo downed two-time Gstaad champion and this year’s No. 2 seed Casper Ruud of Norway, 3-6, 7-5, 6-2, in two hours and 14 minutes.

In a rematch of their 2025 quarterfinal, won by Cerundolo, this time, Cerundolo won 83 percent (38 of 46) of his first-serve points, converted four of eight break points and outpointed Ruud 85-83.

“I put all my energy into trying to feel my best,” Cerundolo said during his on-court interview, after the 24-year-old Argentine won his 13th tour-level match of the season and handed Ruud his 14th loss of 2026.

“He was beating me well. He was doing better and a break up with the wind in his favor. 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.”

Finally, No. 4 seed Arthur Rinderknech of France fell to No. 85 Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, 6-3, 3-6-6, 6-3, in one hour and 41 minutes in the day’s final singles quarterfinal.

After playing the longest match thus far in Gstaad this week, a three-hour, 23-minute second-round victory over French qualifier Clement Tabur, Rinderknech sought to reach his eighth ATP Tour semifinal – and first since reaching the biggest ATP Tour final of his career at the ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai last October.

Meanwhile, Tsitsipas advanced to his first ATP Tour semifinal since Dubai last year and first on clay since 2024 at Gstaad. He finished with six aces and won 89 percent (42 of 47) of his first-serve points. He converted two of four break points and outpointed Rinderknech 75-68 for his 20th win of the season. 

Around the Roy Emerson Arena

• In doubles, No. 3 seeds Quentin Halys and Pierre-Hugues Herbert of France were upset by unseeded Jakub Paul of Switzerland and Robert Seggerman of the United States, 6-4, 3-6, 10-7, in 62 minutes on Court 1.

The other quarterfinal was won by unseeded Sander Gille of Belgium and Sem Verbeek of the Netherlands, 5-7, 6-3, 10-5, over Swiss wild cards Dylan Dietrich and Dominic Stricker in one hour and 26 minutes on Court 1.

In Saturday’s semifinals, Paul and Seggerman will face No. 1 seeds Lucas Miedler of Austria and Marc Polmans of Australia in one match, while Gille and Verbeek will play unseeded Marcelo Demoliner and Robert Galloway of the United States.

Friday’s EFG Swiss Open results

Saturday’s EFG Swiss Open order of play

By the numbers

By advancing to the semifinals, Raphael Collignon become the fourth Belgian reach this stage in Gstaad tournament history – and first since David Goffin in 2015.

“Quotable …”

“It was a very strange match because of starting back at 6-5 in the third set. I think the delivery was very high from my side yesterday and even more so today. I’m so pleased to beat such a great player – he was serving crazy good here with the conditions – and to win the match.”

– Quentin Halys of France, during his on-court interview, after upsetting defending champion and top seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan.

 

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