Dominic Stricker will be the only Swiss player in the main draw of the Gonet Geneva Open. Kilian Feldbausch (ATP 514) and Remy Bertola (ATP 297) came close to pulling off an upset in the second and final round of qualifying.

On Court No. 1, in front of a supportive crowd, Kilian Feldbausch lost 6-3, 4-6, 7-5 to Russian Ivan Gakhov (ATP 317). The Geneva native may have some regrets, having come back from two breaks down in the third set. But at 5-5, 15-0, he lost four straight points, allowing the Russian to regain control.

On Court No. 2, Remy Bertola also fell in three sets. Defeated 3-6, 6-4, 6-4 by Brazilian Karue Sell (ATP 299), the Ticino native conceded the decisive break in the seventh game of the third set. Like Kilian Feldbausch, he was just a few points away from turning the match in his favor.

He returned to Parc des Eaux-Vives with a certain emotion. “This is where I won my first match in an ATP Tour tournament four years ago,” he explains. “Seeing this TC Genève club again really brings back great memories.” Daniel Stricker wants to believe that this return to the Gonet Geneva Open, four years after reaching the quarterfinals, will be extremely beneficial for him.

Ranked 258th in the world, the left-hander from Bern hopes to win his first-round match against a qualifier to secure a ranking that will allow him to appear in the Wimbledon qualifying draw. “I believe grass is my best surface,” he says with a smile. He’s on a mission in Geneva. “I’ve gone through some tough times in recent months,” he says. “But today, my back injury is just a distant memory. I’m happy to have received a wild card here in Geneva. The draw gave me a qualifier for the first round in the person of Cameron Norrie. On paper, a good draw—except that my opponent won two matches on Saturday and Sunday.” And that he was ranked No. 8 in the world in September 2022.