Sebastián Báez scored his first win against Andrey Rublev against a top ten. (Photo: Twitter @atptour)
The Bastad ATP 250 will have a purely Argentinian final, as Francisco Cerúndolo and Sebastián Báez define the title on Sunday. The man from Buenos Aires has accepted the decisive duel of the race which takes place on clay and distributes 534,555 euros in prizes after beating the Spaniard Pablo Carreño Busta 6-3 and 6-2, while Buenos Aires did after having signed the best victory of his short career against the Russian Andrey Rublev.
In another great demonstration in an unbeatable year, Cerúndolo, 23 years old and 39th in the ATP rankings, showed his courage in the first set by saving two break points in the third game, taking advantage of his fourth chance to win the title. serve and then close the bet with a big right.
The man from Buenos Aires did not look back and in the second chapter he immediately built a reassuring 5-0 lead. Despite a small bump that gave Carreño Busta (18th in the world rankings) hope, Cerúndolo did not hesitate to his second match point and took the win in 76 minutes of play.
“I think today he played one of the best games of my career. Everything went fine. I feel so comfortable and play with such confidence that it’s great to play like that. I hope to be able to continue and maintain my level or improve it ”, assured the winner.
Cerúndolo, who won for the first time this year in the semifinals (he had lost in Rio de Janeiro and the Masters 1000 in Miami), will play the second final of his professional career on Sunday. In 2021 he reached the decisive instance in Buenos Aires, where he fell to Diego Schwartzman. “Last year I was in the final at home and I lost pretty badly, so I hope I can play a better game tomorrow and I hope to win my first title,” he was excited.
Before the victory against Carreño Busta, the Argentine had left Portuguese Pedro Sousa (430 °) away in the first round and on Wednesday he had obtained the best victory of his career, beating the Norwegian Casper Ruud, 5th in the world ranking, maximum favorite of this race and reigning champion. Then, in the quarter-finals, he had beaten the Russian Aslan Karatsev (40th).
If Cerúndolo’s victory wasn’t enough for Argentine tennis, some time later Sebastián Báez took control of the Bastad Tennis Stadium and shaped a stunning 6-2, 6-2 win in 75 minutes against Andrey Rublev, eighth in the ATP rankings and second favorite to win the tournament.
In this way, Báez surpassed for the first time in his career a rival ranked among the 10 best on the planet. In the three previous attempts he had succumbed to the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas at the Australian Open and to the German Alexander Zverev at the Masters 1000 in Rome and at Roland Garros.
The 21-year-old from Buenos Aires, 34th in the standings, will play the third final of his career and the third this year. In February he fell in the decisive duel of the ATP 250 in Santiago de Chile against the Spaniard Pedro Martínez, but in early May he pulled out the thorn by winning the title in Estoril (he beat the American Frances Tiafoe).
The Bastad final, which will be played on Sunday around 9 am, will be the first match of an ATP tournament between the two young Argentines, who however know each other very well and have already met in Challenger and Future competitions: Báez has been imposed twice and Cerúndolo, once.
“I think it will be a difficult match because we have known each other for many years. I have to do my best. It’s a new tournament, a new final, another week. So I’m happy to be in the final and, of course, I want more “, warned Báez, who left the Italian Fabio Fognini (64th), the Spanish Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (36th) and the Austrian Dominic Thiem (339th).
Source: Clarin
