Berrettini Bublik Cilic ATP Tennis Players

Alexander Bublik and Matteo Berrettini will headline the 2025 Kitzbuhel Open when the Austrian clay court tournament kicks off on July 20th.

Both players have reached Grand Slam finals, making them the biggest names on an entry list that’s pretty solid for a 250-level event.

The tournament has quite a history. It’s been running since 1894, making it one of the oldest tennis events in the world. Back in the day, it moved around between cities like Vienna and Salzburg before settling permanently in Kitzbuhel in 1969.

Berrettini is coming back to defend his title from last year. The Italian had a great clay court season in 2024, winning back-to-back tournaments at Gstaad and then Kitzbuhel just a week later.

He was working with Francisco Roig during that successful run – that’s Rafael Nadal’s former coach. But they split up at the end of last season despite those impressive results.

There’s a catch though. Berrettini hasn’t played since retiring injured against Casper Ruud at the Italian Open. The 2021 Wimbledon runner-up is hoping he’ll be fit for this year’s Wimbledon.

Bublik has had quite the transformation this year. The Kazakhstani player used to absolutely hate playing on clay courts. Then he shocked everyone – including himself – by reaching the French Open quarterfinals.

It gets better. He also signed up for the Gstaad Open the week before Kitzbuhel, showing just how much he’s embracing the clay court swing now.

His recent grass court form has been sensational too. Bublik won the title at Halle, beating world No. 1 Jannik Sinner along the way. If he has a deep run at Wimbledon, he might skip both clay events.

The Other Main Players

Marin Cilic is the only Grand Slam champion on the entry list. At 37, the Croatian proved he’s still got it by becoming the lowest-ranked ATP champion ever last year.

He’s been staying sharp too, recently winning a Challenger event in Nottingham with some vintage powerful serving.

Sebastian Baez always shows up big at clay court events like this. The Argentine has won six of his seven ATP titles on clay – the dirt is definitely his surface.

He’s actually the 2023 Kitzbuhel champion and beat Dominic Thiem in what turned out to be the Austrian’s final career final before retiring.

The timing of this tournament is interesting. Many top players will choose to rest or play the Citi Open on hard courts the same week, since that prepares them better for the Canadian Open.

That’s created an opportunity for players like Berrettini and Bublik to be the main attractions in Austria.

2025 Kitzbuhel Open Entry List

The field also includes wildcards Filip Misolic and Sebastian Ofner, giving Austrian fans some home players to cheer for.

With legends like Juan Martin Del Potro, Pete Sampras, and Casper Ruud having won this title over the years, there’s plenty of tradition for this year’s field to live up to.