Munar Beats The Rain In Gstaad, Bautista Agut Saves MP Before Suspension
In the lone completed singles match on a rainy Wednesday at the EFG Swiss Open Gstaad, Jaume Munar defeated Alexander Ritschard to advance to his second tour-level quarter-final of the 2022 season.
The Spaniard earned the 6-3, 6-3 victory by saving all seven break points against him in Roy Emerson Arena and claiming three breaks of his own in the one-hour, 21-minute contest.
"Here with altitude and the fastest court maybe we're playing on Tour, it's difficult," the 25-year-old said in his on-court interview. "I think the key to success in this match was to handle the pressure. I think I played a couple of good points [to save the break chances] and on my break points I did well."
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Munar is into his first quarter-final in Gstaad after losing to Robert Bautista Agut in the second round in each of his previous two appearances (2018-19).
"I'm super happy," he said of the achievement. "It's one of my favourite weeks during the year. I enjoy it a lot here in Gstaad. I love the place very much."
The Spaniard improved his record to 9-2 in his past 11 clay-court matches, including ATP Challenger Tour events; he won a Challenger title in Perugia and reached the semi-finals in Forli in June. He is up to No. 59 in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings behind his two victories this week.
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Now through to his first ATP Tour quarter-final since January in Melbourne, Munar could face top seed Casper Ruud next. The Norwegian's opening matchup against Jiri Lehecka was postponed until Thursday due to heavy rain in Gstaad.
Dominic Thiem's matchup with Federico Delbonis was also among the rained-out matches, setting up a busy Thursday slate that also includes second seed Matteo Berrettini's opener against Richard Gasquet.
Third seed Roberto Bautista Agut was nearly knocked out before the downpour, but the Spaniard saved a match point against Peru's Juan Pablo Varillas to extend his stay in Gstaad by at least one day.
After losing the first set in a tie-break, four consecutive breaks of serve in the second set left Bautista Agut serving to stay in the match at 4-5. He erased a match point in that game to level, then saw a break chance go begging in the ensuing game as Varillas edged back in front before the match was suspended with him leading 7-6(3), 6-5.