Alexander Bublik is still rolling–even on what used to be his least favorite surface.
The French Open quarterfinalist captured his first clay-court title when he defeated Juan Manuel Cerundolo 6-4, 4-6, 6-2 in the final of the Swiss Open Gstaad on Sunday afternoon. It is also Bublik’s first outdoor title on any surface other than grass, on which he triumphed earlier this summer in Stuttgart.
“First of all, Juan, as I told you at the net, this was not tennis–it was complete torture,” the 34th-ranked Kazakh joked during the trophy ceremony. “This is my sixth title and I have played the greats of the game, but this final I will remember as one of the toughest I ever played. So good job to you and congrats to your team; it was really good.”
The other title on the first week of the post-Wimbledon clay-court swing went to Luciano Darderi, who held off Jesper de Jong 6-4, 3-6, 6-3 at the Nordea Open. It is Darderi’s second clay-court triumph in 2025, having previously lifted the trophy a couple of months ago in Marrakech.
At the Mifel Tennis Open on Saturday night, Denis Shapovalov sprinted to his first-ever outdoor ATP title with a 6-4, 6-2 victory over Aleksandar Kovacevic. Shapovalov broke serve in the opening game of each set while prevailing in one hour and 15 minutes.
This week’s clay-court events are in Umag and Kitzbuhel; the North American hard-court swing continues in Washington, D.C.
Yes congrats to all the champs. The Bublik match was the best of the bunch.