By Alberto Amalfi | @Tennis_Now |Sunday, February 25, 2024
In an all-Argentinian Rio final, Sebastian Baez burst through eight of the last nine games beating qualifier Mariano Navone 6-2, 6-1 for his fifth career title.
Photo credit: Buda Mendes/Getty
Sebastian Baez packs quite a punch from a compact 5'7" frame.
Baez continues to show convincing closing power.
More: New Federer Documentary Coming
In an all-Argentinian Rio final, Baez burst through eight of the last nine games beating qualifier Mariano Navone 6-2, 6-1 to capture the biggest championship of his career.
The 23-year-old Baez played bold baseline tennis rolling to his fifth career title, first career ATP 500 crown and fourth championship since the start of 2023.
Only four men—world No. 1 Novak Djokovic, Jannik Sinner, Carlos Alcaraz and Daniil Medvedev—have won more titles than Baez since the start of 2023.
Baez improves his career finals record to 5-2—surpassing Diego Schwartzman for most ATP championships among active Argentinians.
After a dominant final that spanned 82 minutes, Baez took a long swig from the bottle of championship champagne before spraying it around the court.
While the ball was in play, Baez was nearly unerring.
The No. 5 seed looked far fresher than his compatriot, who played through qualifying and knocked off defending champion Cameron Norrie for his biggest career win in the semifinals.
In the 30th all-Argentine final in Open Era, and first since Baez defeated Federico Coria in Cordoba final last year, it was the more experienced Baez who carved up Navone charging out to a 4-0 lead.
Down a double break in his maiden final, Navone made a brief stand closing the gap to 2-4.
Then Baez unleashed a baseline barrage. Baez held at 30 then broke for a one-set lead.
In front of a supportive crowd that included Hall of Famer Guga Kuerten and former French Open finalist David Ferrer, Baez again charged out to a 4-0 lead for the second straight set and closed with conviction.
Navone kept fighting, but could not dent the speedy Baez's defense system.
The former junior world No. 1 thumped a bounce smash for two championship points.
Baez sealed his fifth career title when Navone missed a crosscourt backhand.
The Argentinians shared a warm embrace at net—each enjoying career breakthroughs in Rio. Baez will rise to a career-high ranking of No. 21 tomorrow, while Navone rockets from No. 113 to No. 60.