GSTAAD/WASHINGTON, July 19, 2025 (by Michael Dickens)
Juan Manuel Cerundolo has quietly but effectively gone about the business of winning tennis matches against all comers this week at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad. Four years removed winning from his first ATP Tour title in Cordoba, Argentina, Cerundolo has built up his confidence level in the Swiss Alps, round by round, and is ready to go after another title.
On Saturday, beating a three-hour rain delay that pushed back the start of the second semifinal, the 109th-ranked Argentine lefty ended the dream run of Peruvian qualifier Ignacio Buse, 6-3, 6-3, in an hour and 22 minutes on a windy Roy Emerson Arena. The victory advanced the 23-year-old Argentine, younger brother of World No. 20 Francisco Cerundolo, into his first tour-level final of the season.
In Sunday’s title match, Cerundolo will face No. 2 seed Alexander Bublik of Kazakhstan, who eased past 116th-ranked Arthur Cazaux of France, 6-1, 7-5, in one hour and 13 minutes. It will be the first meeting between Cerundolo and Bublik.
After improving his 2025 tour-level win-loss record to 8-6, Cerundolo said during his on-court interview that he thought the key to his victory over Buse was “to play with the wind.
“When I was playing against the wind, I was trying to win my serves, trying to make some variations in my game. When I had the wind in my favor, I tried to hit more spin because the ball bounced very high. I think the key was learning to play with the wind,” he said.
Man on a mission ⚔️@jmcerundolo takes down Buse to punch his ticket to the championship match! ️@SwissOpenGstaad | #SwissOpenGstaad pic.twitter.com/O3jyqA3qey
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 19, 2025
Cerundolo has split his season between competing in mostly clay-court events on the ATP Tour, while also playing in a variety of ATP Challenger Tour tournaments to hone his game and boost his ranking. Just last week, Cerundolo was a finalist at a Challenger 125 event in Braunschweig, Germany, stringing together four wins before losing in the title match to fellow Argentine Mariano Navone.
A former Top-10 junior, Cerundolo achieved a career-high ranking of No. 79 in January 2022, after winning three Challenger titles in five finals during 2021 season – plus his title success early in 2021 when he won his first ATP Tour title at Cordoba. On the Challenger Tour circuit, Cerundolo has compiled a 146-77 record and captured 10 titles.
This week, Cerundolo reached the last four after securing a trio of three-set victories over 129th-ranked Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany, No. 68 David Goffin of Belgium and by upsetting World No. 13 and top seed Casper Ruud of Norway, a two-time Gstaad champion.
Against the upstart, 167th-ranked Buse, who rose through qualifying last weekend and put together three quality main-draw wins to advance to the semifinal round, Cerundolo won 75 percent of his first-serve points, saved the only break point he faced, hit 22 winners while making just 11 unforced errors and converted three of six break points. He outpointed Buse 61-47.
“I think today I served really well,” Cerundolo said. “I only faced one break point. I think it made me save energy winning in two sets. It was a tough match but now I have time to rest.”
Cerundolo has climbed to No. 81 in the PIF ATP Living Rankings with his semifinal victory, ensuring his return to the ATP Top 100 for the first time since 2023.
Clay Bublik: ACTIVATED
The No. 2 seed handles Cazaux to reach his first tour-level final on the dirt!@SwissOpenGstaad | #SwissOpenGstaad pic.twitter.com/ENde6qZuxJ
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 19, 2025
In the second semifinal, the 34th-ranked Bublik reached his second tour-level final of the season following his success on grass at Halle last month. It’s the 28-year-old Bublik’s 13th career ATP Tour final – but just his first title match on clay.
Against Cazaux, Bublik struck 35 winners – including 12 aces – and dropped only five points on his first serve. He faced no break points on his serve and converted three of five break-points chances against Cazaux. Bublik outpointed his opponent 66-45.
En route to Sunday’s final, Bublik has put together a trio of straight-set wins against fellow Kazakh Alexander Shevchenko, ranked 101st; No. 7 seed Francisco Comesana of Argentina, ranked 74th; and Cazaux. Since the beginning of his run at Halle, Bublik has compiled an impressive 8-1 record.
“Surprisingly, I’ve been winning [my matches] in two sets,” Bublik said during his on-court interview. “For me, it’s been to stay here, keep serving and using my chances, which I did well in the past match. So, I hope I can do in the final.”
As for facing Cerundolo, Bublik said he showed in his victory over Ruud that he’s capable of beating that caliber of player on clay. “He’s playing the best tennis of his life. I’ve got to get ready for him and we’ll see how it goes tomorrow.”
Final showdown @SwissOpenGstaad | #SwissOpenGstaad pic.twitter.com/8jywaqc98a
— ATP Tour (@atptour) July 19, 2025
Around Roy Emerson Arena
In Saturday’s doubles semifinal, No. 1 seeds Francisco Cabral of Portugal and Lucas Miedler of Austria defeated Swiss wild cards Jakub Paul and Dominic Stricker, 6-1, 7-6 (5), in 69 minutes to advance to the title match. Because of the earlier rain, which delayed the start of the second singles semifinal, the doubles match was moved to Court 1.
Cabral and Miedler will face No. 3 seeds Hendrik Jebens of Germany and Albano Olivetti of France in Sunday’s final.
Saturday’s EFG Swiss Open Gstaad results
Sunday’s EFG Swiss Open Gstaad order of play
By the numbers
It’s been 34 years since a pair of brothers have been in tour-level finals in the same week during the Open Era.
Brothers Juan Manuel Cerundolo and Francisco Cerundolo had an opportunity to become just the sixth brothers duo to achieve the unusual feat. While Juan Manuel Cerundolo reached the Gstaad final, his brother Francisco fell to Luciano Darderi of Italy, 6-2, 3-6, 7-6 (3) in the semifinals of the Nordea Open in Bastad, Sweden.
The last pair of brothers to reach tour-level finals in the same week were Emilio and Javier Sanchez in 1991. Emilio Sanchez won the 1991 Rome title while Javier Sanchez was a finalist in 1991 at Umag.
“Quotable …”
“Both players are very good. Bublik has had a great season and is playing really well. It’s going to be a really fun match. I will try to play my best and enjoy the final.”
– Juan Manuel Cerundolo of Argentina, during his on-court interview Saturday, after advancing to his first tour-level final since 2021.
