Scouting Report: Rublev makes Los Cabos debut, Ruud returns to Gstaad & Cerundolo leads Bastad

Scouting Report

Scouting Report: Rublev makes Los Cabos debut, Ruud returns to Gstaad & Cerundolo leads Bastad

An executive summary of what every fan should know about the coming week

ATP Tour Andrey Rublev, Casper Ruud and Francisco Cerundolo are all in action this week. By ATP Staff

The ATP Tour returns to clay and hard courts this week, with three ATP 250 events taking place.

Andrey Rublev is the highest-ranked player in action, competing at the Mifel Tennis Open by Telcel Oppo in Los Cabos, a hard-court event that has shifted from its traditional February slot to July. Casper Ruud leads the field at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad and Francisco Cerundolo is the top seed at the Nordea Open in Bastad.

ATPTour.com looks at five things to watch at each event.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN LOS CABOS

1) Rublev Makes Debut: The 17-time tour-level champion Rublev is set to make his Los Cabos debut as the top seed. Rublev arrives in Baja California with a 21-15 season record, according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index, with his best result being a title run at the ATP 500 in Doha.

2) Foki’s Summer Heats Up: It has been a memorable few months for Alejandro Davidovich Fokina, who married his longtime girlfriend Paloma Amatiste in June and then reached the Eastbourne semi-finals, followed by a third-round run at Wimbledon. The Spaniard reached two finals earlier this year, in Delray Beach and Acapulco, and now sets his sights on a maiden tour-level title in Los Cabos, where he is seeded second.

3) #NextGenATP Stars: The Mexican crowd will be in full force for home favourite Rodrigo Pacheco Mendez, the 20-year-old lefty who is seventh in the PIF ATP Live Race To Jeddah. Also in the Los Cabos field is fellow #NextGenATP contender Nishesh Basavareddy, who is sixth in the Race To Jeddah. While the American is bidding for a return to the Next Gen ATP Finals presented by PIF, Pacheco Mendez is chasing his maiden trip to the 20-and-under event.

4) Shapo Among Other Seeds: Third seed Denis Shapovalov brings plenty of firepower to his Los Cabos debut. Chasing his second title this season, the Canadian captured the biggest career trophy at the ATP 500 in Dallas in February. Shapovalov owns a 12-6 hard-court record this season. Fourth seed Quentin Halys and fifth seed Daniel Altmaier look to spoil the party and claim their first tour-level trophy.

5) Doumbia/Reboul Lead Doubles Field: Frenchmen Sadio Doumbia and Fabien Reboul are the top seeds in doubles. Doumbia and Reboul are looking for their second title of the season, having triumphed in Geneva. Finalists in Acapulco earlier this year, can they go one step further this time in Mexico?

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN GSTAAD

1) Ruud Reigns: Norwegian Casper Ruud is back in Gstaad for the first time since 2022, a warning shot to the rest of the field. The 26-year-old is unbeaten in Gstaad across two appearances, claiming the title in both 2021 and 2022. Ruud is 13-4 on clay this season, highlighted by his first ATP Masters 1000 title in Madrid. Gstaad will mark Ruud's first tournament since Roland Garros. He withdrew from Wimbledon due to a knee injury.

2) Bublik Building: Alexander Bublik has been on one of his career-best runs. The Kazakh reached his maiden Slam quarter-final at Roland Garros, followed by a title run in Halle, where he lifted his fifth tour-level crown. After a disappointing first-round exit at Wimbledon, Bublik looks to return to his winning ways as the second seed in Gstaad.

3) Home Favourites: Former No. 3 Stan Wawrinka is set for his 12th appearance in Gstaad, a tournament he first competed at in 2003. The 40-year-old, fresh off a semi-final run at the Iasi Challenger, looks to roll back the years and treat his home fans to a strong showing. Wawrinka could meet Bublik in the second round, while fellow Swiss Dominic Stricker is also in the field, with a potential second-round clash against Ruud. Swiss Jerome Kym is also in the draw.

4) #NextGenATP Pathway: Spaniard Martin Landaluce is using a Next Gen Accelerator spot to gain entry into the main draw. Players aged 20-and-under who are ranked in the Top 250 of the PIF ATP Rankings are eligible for one ATP 250 main draw spot, an effort to support young talent and their development pathway. The 19-year-old Landaluce, seeking his second tour-level win, is World No. 137.

5) Doubles Draw: Portugal’s Francisco Cabral and Austrian Lucas Miedler spearhead the doubles field, which also features Stan Wawrinka playing alongside countryman Henry Bernet, this year’s Australian Open boys’ singles champion.

FIVE THINGS TO WATCH IN BASTAD

1) Top Seed Cerundolo: Francisco Cerundolo is seeking his first title of the season. The Argentine is comfortable in Bastad, having won the title in 2022. Holding a 7-2 tournament record, the 26-year-old Cerundolo reached the semi-finals in his most recent showing in 2023. Cerundolo reached a career-high No. 18 this May.

2) Defending Champ Borges: It was a memorable week for Nuno Borges last year in Bastad, where he captured his first tour-level trophy and upset 92-time tour-level titlist Rafael Nadal in the final. Borges, seeded third, looks to successfully defend the title. Borges became the second Portuguese ATP Tour titlist, joining Joao Sousa.

3) Baez Seeking More Clay Success: Sebastian Baez won the clay ATP 500 in Rio de Janeiro for the second consecutive year and reached two additional finals on the surface in Santiago and Bucharest. Now returning to his favourite surface post-Wimbledon, Baez is hunting his eighth tour-level trophy. The Argentine reached the final in 2022, falling to countryman Cerundolo.

4) Other Seeds: Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Luciano Darderi, Damir Dzumhur and Vit Kopriva are seeded fifth through eight, respectively. Ugo Carabelli and Kopriva are among the seeds who are seeking their first tour-level title.

5) Doubles Top Seeds Andreozzi/Arends: Guido Andreozzi and Sander Arends are the top seeds in Bastad doubles. Romain Arneodo and Manuel Guinard are seeded second.

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