It was a successful day for Casper Ruud and Juan Manuel Cerúndolo (ATP No. 45), but a frustrating one for Alexander Bublik, Jérôme Kym and Dominic Stricker.
Casper Ruud (ATP No. 13) needed some time to adapt to the unique conditions at altitude in the Bernese Alps. Facing Jaime Faria (ATP No. 92), the Norwegian was pushed to three sets before his quality ultimately prevailed. After more than two and a half hours, the two-time Gstaad champion defeated the Portuguese, who had eliminated Stan Wawrinka, 6-7, 6-4, 6-2.
Ruud already knows his next opponent: last year’s finalist Juan Manuel Cerúndolo (ATP No. 45), who came from a set down to defeat Serbia’s Miomir Kecmanović 3-6, 6-3, 7-5. Ruud will know better than to underestimate the Argentine, who knocked him out in the quarter-finals here last year.
Cerúndolo also needed more than two hours to book his place in the last eight. While fans in the nearly sold-out Roy Emerson Arena were treated to six sets of world-class tennis, Thursday proved far less fortunate for several other players.
Jérôme Kym first had to endure a long wait before resuming his thriller against Stefanos Tsitsipas (ATP No. 85), which had been suspended the previous evening at 5-5 in the deciding set because of darkness. The 23-year-old Swiss made a strong restart but failed to convert three break points against the Greek before narrowly losing the decisive tie-break 7-5. Tsitsipas will now face France’s Arthur Rinderknech (ATP No. 28).
Rain, followed by thunderstorms, caused further delays to the schedule. Defending champion and world No. 11 Alexander Bublik (KAZ) was unable to complete his match against France’s Quentin Halys, with play suspended while he was leading 7-6, 4-6, 6-5.
Local favourite Dominic Stricker endured even worse luck. Hoping to finish his match against Kazakhstan’s Aleksandr Shevchenko under the floodlights, the Bern native was moved to Court 1. Despite the organisers’ best efforts to give fans the tennis they had come to see, the weather had the final say. After just seven games (with Stricker leading 4-3), play was abandoned and only the DJ kept the tournament village alive under the shelter of the tents.
Friday now promises to be a marathon for both Stricker and Bublik. Each must first complete their second-round match before returning to play their quarter-final. Stricker also has a doubles match to contest alongside Zurich’s Dylan Dietrich.