Swiss Open Gstaad: (7) Francisco Comesana vs. (2) Alexander Bublik
Bublik and Comesana will be going head-to-head for the first time in their careers when they clash in the Gstaad quarterfinals on Friday. It has been roller-coaster last couple of months for Bublik, who made a surprising run to the French Open quarters and won the Halle title before losing in the Wimbledon first round to Jaume Munar. The 34th-ranked Kazakh is back on grass and back to his winning ways, having defeated Alexander Schevchenko 6-2, 6-3 on Thursday.
Comesana has struggled for the most part in 2025–even on clay. The 74th-ranked Argentine is 11-13 at the ATP level and had been on a five-match losing streak prior to arriving in Gstaad. He has done well to beat Marco Trungelliti and Roberto Carballes Baena, but Bublik is a much different kind off opponent who won’t let Comesana grind away in baseline rallies. This match will be entirely on the No. 2 seed’s racket; and right now he isn’t beating himself.
Nordea Open: (4) Sebastian Baez vs. (6) Luciano Darderi
Darderi is 1-4 in the head-to-head series with Baez going into this Bastad quarterfinal contest, but the Italian has been competitive. Their two most recent meetings saw Baez prevail in three sets at the 2024 ATP tournament in Hamburg and in a fourth-set tiebreaker at the U.S. Open. Darderi’s victory came via a 6-1, 3-6, 6-3 decision in the Cordoba semifinals last February.
Current form suggests Darderi has decent chance of turning the tide back in his favor. The world No. 55’s spring clay-court swing featured a title in Marrakech and he recently advanced to the Wimbledon third round. So far this week Darderi has disposed of Raphael Collignon and Elias Ymer; he has won his last three sets all by 6-2 scorelines. Baez followed up a bye with a 3-6, 6-2, 7-5 victory over qualifier Nicolai Budkov Kjaer. That ended a horrific seven-match losing streak for the 37th-ranked Argentine, but it hardly suggests that he is back to his best.