Three all-seeded showdowns headline the Bastad quarterfinal lineup on Friday, including No. 1 Andrey Rublev vs. No. 8 Sebastian Baez. No. 2 Luciano Darderi and No. 5 Nuno Borges are also taking the court.
(1) Andrey Rublev vs. (8) Sebastian Baez
Rublev’s bid for a second Nordea Open title almost never got off the ground. The top-seeded Russian got pushed for two hours and 33 minutes on Thursday but scraped past Andrea Pellegrino 7-6(3), 6-7(7), 6-3. It was a much-needed result for Rublev, who did not win a single match on the grass-court swing (lost to Hubert Hurkacz in Halle and to Roman Safiullin 14-12 in the fifth-set tiebreaker at Wimbledon).
Up next for the world No. 16 on quarterfinal Friday is a second contest against Baez. Their only previous meeting came at this same tournament in the 2022 semifinals, with the Argentine prevailing 6-2, 6-4. He is back in the quarters four years later thanks to wins over Max Dahlin and Jesper de Jong, the latter in impressive 6-4, 6-2 fashion. Baez is the essence of a clay-court specialist and his lone result against Rublev — despite coming four years ago — should give the underdog additional confidence.
Pick: Baez in 3
(5) Nuno Borges vs. (2) Luciano Darderi
It will be a showdown between the last two Bastad champions when Darderi and Borges go head-to-head for the fourth time on Friday. Borges has won all three of their previous encounters on three different surfaces — in three sets at a 2022 Challenger tournament (clay), in three on the hard courts of Auckland in 2025, and 7-6(1), 6-4 this summer on the lawns of Mallorca.
Back on his beloved clay-court surface, Darderi should feel good about his chances of avenging last month’s loss. The 18th-ranked Italian lifted the Bastad trophy 12 months ago and kicked off his title defense with a 6-4, 6-4 victory over Daniel Altmaier. Of course, Borges is also a champion of this event (2024). The world No. 52 from Portugal has won 19 main-tour matches this year following defeats of Moise Kouame and and Grigor Dimitrov. This could be the best match of the week; I would give Borges the edge on any other surface, but Darderi may have a slight upper hand — finally — on clay.
Pick: Darderi in 3
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