Kym Suffers Unfortunate Loss to Tsitsipas; Stricker Has to Stay After School

On Wednesday, the round of 16 match between Kym (ATP 186) and Tsitsipas (ATP 85) had to be suspended in the third set at 5-5 due to darkness. On Thursday, Kym got off to a better start after the restart. While the 23-year-old from Aargau hadn’t earned a single break point in more than two hours on Wednesday, he created three opportunities to break the former world No. 3’s serve in the Greek player’s only service game the following day. However, he was unable to convert a single break point on the clay court in the Bernese Oberland.

Kym Comes Close to a Surprise

Since Kym didn’t give up a single point on his own serve, the tiebreak had to decide the outcome of the match. And there, with the score tied at 5-5, the Swiss player—who had entered the tournament on a wild card—made the decisive mistake. Tsitsipas, who has since slipped to No. 85 in the world rankings, didn’t let the opportunity slip away and, after 18 minutes and a total match time of 2 hours and 30 minutes, converted his first match point to win 6–4, 6–7 (2–7), 7–6 (7–5).

As a result, Kym failed to repeat last year’s feat, when he reached the quarterfinals for the only time in his career so far in the Saanenland. Tsitsipas will face the No. 4 seed, Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech (ATP 28), in the quarterfinals.

In the second round, Casper Ruud (ATP 13)—a two-time tournament champion and one of the top favorites to win the title—entered the fray. The Norwegian struggled against Jaime Faria (ATP 92), who had defeated Wawrinka, but ultimately prevailed over the Portuguese player in three sets and will now face sixth-seeded Argentine Juan Manuel Cerundolo in the quarterfinals.

Stricker Makes a Brief Appearance

Top-seeded Alexander Bublik (ATP 11) was unable to finish his match. The match between the defending champion from Kazakhstan and France’s Quentin Halys (ATP 90) had to be suspended in the third set with the score at 6-5 in Bublik’s favor due to a downpour and the onset of darkness; it will be completed on Friday.

Dominic Stricker (ATP 360) also had his patience tested. His round of 16 match against Alexander Shevchenko (ATP 100) was originally scheduled for 5:30 p.m. at Roy Emerson Arena, but after numerous delays due to the changeable weather in the Bernese Oberland, it was moved to Court 1 and ultimately called off during the first set with the score at 4–3 in favor of the Bern native.

Stricker, who holds a one-break lead, will aim to reach the quarterfinals of the Swiss Open for the first time on Friday starting at 12:00 p.m. If he wins, he will play his next match later that same day at 3:00 p.m. against either Bublik or Halys.