The South American tour of clay court tournaments suits Sebastián Báez well, who this Friday defeated the Spaniard Jaume Munar 6-4 in one hour and 48 minutes to reach the semi-finals of the ATP 250 in Santiago de Chile.
Thus he defended the 100 points obtained last year by also reaching the semi-final, an occasion in which he lost to Tomás Etcheverry. In 2022, meanwhile, he fell in the final against the Spaniard Pedro Martínez, who could be his next rival, and will now try to become champion for the first time in the Chilean capital and repeat the title obtained last week in Rio de Janeiro . .
Furthermore, he is the only tennis player to have reached at least the quarter-finals in each of the four tournaments on the circuit: he was a semi-finalist in Cordobawhere he was eliminated by Luciano Darderi, he reached the quarter-finals in Buenos Aires (Federico Coria), raised the trophy River and now it comes to the last days of the race again.
Everyone wants a photo with @sebaabaez7! ????
The Argentine achieves his seventh consecutive victory and enters the semi-final of the Chile Open for the third consecutive year ????. pic.twitter.com/XaAv0ZLEiR
— Chile Open (@chile_open) March 1, 2024
Báez, 23, is making the most of this stretch of the season. He will play the eleventh semi-final of his career and five of the previous ten have been in these latitudes. He is 7-3 and will be looking to win the sixth title of his career and extend his winning streak.
As if that wasn’t enough, he is the tennis player who has accumulated the most points in the last month in South America and could enter the Top 20 of the ATP rankings for the first time in his career. Today it is in 22nd place, five units behind Francisco Cerúndolo, and he will surpass him if he wins the next match against Pedro Martínez or Arthur Fils.
And if he won the title he would oust Adrian Mannarino from 20th place and could even get to 19th place if Kazakh Alexander Bublik lost the ATP 500 final in Dubai on Saturday against Frenchman Ugo Humbert.
Chile Open hours
Court Jaime Fillol
- Sebastián Báez (ARG) to Jaume Munar (ESP), 6-4 and 6-4.
- Alejandro Tabilo (CHI) vs. Luciano Darderi (ITA), not before 6.00 pm.
- Nicolas Jarry (CHI) vs. Corentin Moutet (FRA), not before 7.00 pm
Court 1
Pedro Martinez (ESP) vs. Arthur Fils, LIVE
Source: Clarin
Jason Root is the go-to source for sports coverage at News Rebeat. With a passion for athletics and an in-depth knowledge of the latest sports trends, Jason provides comprehensive and engaging analysis of the world of sports.