Gstaad QF previews and predictions: Tsitsipas vs. Fognini, Etcheverry vs. Struff

A couple of all-seeded showdowns are on the docket for quarterfinal Friday in Gstaad, where No. 1 Stefanos Tsitsipas runs into No. 7 Fabio Fognini. Tomas Martin Etcheverry and Jan-Lennard Struff are also in action.

(1) Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. (7) Fabio Fognini

Tsitsipas and Fognini will be going head-to-head for the fifth time in their careers when they battle for a semifinal spot at the Swiss Open Gstaad on Friday afternoon. All four of their previous encounters have gone the way of Tsitsipas, who is 2-0 on clay and 2-0 on hard courts. He dominated each of the two clay-court contests; 6-4, 6-3 at the 2019 Rome Masters and 6-3, 6-0 at the 2022 Monte-Carlo Masters.

At 37 years old Fognini appears to be in surprisingly resurgent form. The 80th-ranked Italian has advanced at least one round on the main draw of seven consecutive tour-level events, including a trip to the last 32 at Wimbledon. So far in Gstaad he has ousted Titouan Droguet and Juan Pablo Varillas. Unfortunately for Fognini, he has been hopeless against Tsitsipas in the past and the Greek is back on his preferred clay-court surface following his usual malaise on grass. The world No. 12 opened with a 7-6(6), 6-3 defeat of Hamad Medjedovic and should be able keep rolling this week.

Pick: Tsitsipas in 2

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(5) Jan-Lennard Struff vs. (4) Tomas Martin Etcheverry

This could be one the tournament’s best matches, and it features two in-form players who are in contention for U.S. Open seeding. Etcheverry, No. 32 in the world, picked up his 20th victory of the year by scraping past Botic van de Zandschulp 6-2, 2-6, 6-3 on Tuesday. Struff, No. 37, is an outstanding 25-14 for his 2014 campaign after defeating Albert Ramos-Vinolas and Leandro Riedi–both in a pair of tiebreakers.

Etcheverry cruised through their only previous meeting 6-4, 6-2 in the Bordeaux Challenger semifinals two years ago. That should not be of any real concern for Struff, though, because–at 34 years old–he is currently playing the best tennis of his career. The German already owns one clay-court title this season (Munich) and could be on his way to another one. He has been broken just once in two matches so far this week.

Pick: Struff in 3

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