First-round action in Gstaad continues with home hero Stan Wawrinka taking the court against Jaime Faria on Tuesday. Ignacio Buse and Stefanos Tsitsipas will be facing each other for the second time this summer.
Jaime Faria vs. Stan Wawrinka
Twenty-three years after making his ATP debut at the Swiss Open, Wawrinka returns to the same tournament for the final time this week. The 41-year-old Swiss is retiring at the end of this season, and his farewell tour has produced a mixed bag of results. Wawrinka’s 7-13 record is uninspiring, but he reached the third round of the Australian Open and has played well in a whole host of competitive losses — including 6-7(7), 7-6(16), 7-6(7), 7-6(5) to Matteo Berrettini at Wimbledon.
Up first for the three-time Grand Slam champion on Tuesday is a first-ever showdown against Faria. The 22-year-old from Portugal has more than doubled his previous tour-level win total (five to 11) this season, which includes successful qualification at Roland Garros (reached the third round) and Wimbledon (reached the second round). Faria is playing well, but Wawrinka is still dangerous — especially when he has had two weeks off following his exit from the All-England Club. An opening victory in front of the home fans is well within reach for the former world No. 3.
Pick: Wawrinka in 3
Stefanos Tsitsipas vs. (5) Ignacio Buse
Buse and Tsitsipas will be going head-to-head for the second time in their careers on Tuesday. They faced each other in the Mallorca opening round right before Wimbledon, when Buse prevailed 7-6(4), 6-3. That result is part of a breakthrough season for the 22-year-old Peruvian, whose first ATP title came at the 500-point level this spring on the red clay of Hamburg. Buse understandably cooled off a bit on grass, but a return to the dirt should send him back on his way.
Tsitsipas, on the other hand, has been going in the wrong direction. The 27-year-old Greek is just 17-15 this season and has plunged to 85th in the rankings. He has won back-to-back matches only once since the Miami Masters in March, so the fact that his struggles continued on his preferred clay-court surface is especially alarming. Given that Tsitsipas has not found his form since his loss to Buse a few weeks ago, there is no reason to think that anything will be different in Gstaad.
Pick: Buse in 2
WWW?
Wawrinka and Buse in three
Generous to Tsitsi, when I see his name I automatically pick against him these days
automatic fade, yes
How did that work out for you guys?🤣
Its the week after Wimbledon
The week after Wimbledon is always an anti climax, as it is after any GS, the lead ups are great, looking forward to the USO HC swing, can’t come soon enough
I find having a bit of tennis this week eases the sense of anticlimax . It’s straight back to business.
Pity about the Newport not anymore it was a longer grass season
yep Newport was great
(the Challenger there during the second week of Wimbledon just isn’t the same)