2023-09-03 05:26:15
Sebastián Baéz was looking to go one step further at the US Open and, at the same time, sign the most resounding victory of his brief professional career by facing Daniil Medvedev, champion of the contest in the past and in the third round of the Grand Slam in the United States. number 3 in the world ranking. Despite the fact that the young tennis player tried to overcome one of the best rackets on the circuit, he lost 6-2, 6-2, and 7-6 (6). The duel took place at the popular Arthur Ashe Stadium (with ESPN television).
The first set ended 6-2 in favor of the Russian tennis player. Despite the fact that in the first minutes the Argentine started with an advantage, the bronze in the ATP ranking managed to reverse the situation, where he shone with three ACEs. After making several mistakes that cost him the first round, Báez equalized the match in the last leg of the game.
The second set was again beneficial for Medvedev and he repeated the same result (6-2). Although the Argentine showed an improvement in his performance and made several notable plays, the opponent’s experience, cunning and technical quality have not helped him turn the score around. From the box, the physical trainers asked him to increase the level of aggressiveness, with the aim of rescuing more points in his favor.
After the disciple of the former tennis player Sebastián Gutiérrez increased his attacks against the Russian from the end of the second half, the conquest of the ground became notable in the third set, since his change of pace destabilized the European. Undoubtedly, the attitude that Báez adopted not only gave away a spectacular crossing, but also managed to stress the rival who came to reproach his coach, the former French tennis player Gilles Cervara, for the lack of indications and making several mistakes.
The match had an extra break in the middle of the third set, due to the start of the rain that forced the authorities to stop the development to close the roof of the stadium. After having slowed down for approximately seven minutes, it took the Argentine two games not to have been able to recover the rhythm he had reached due to the discomfort he felt in his leg. However, the crossing for the pass to the round of 16 ended in a disputed tiebreak, where Báez’s stumbles favored the Russian who kept the point 7-6.
The Argentine tennis player said goodbye to the US Open (Danielle Parhizkaran-USA TODAY Sports)
Báez’s path to this third phase came with a complex debut against the Croatian Borna Coric (7-5, 7-5 and 6-1) and the subsequent victory over the Brazilian Felipe Meligeni Alves (6-7, 6-4 , 6-4 and retirement). The Russian, for his part, began the journey with a resounding victory against the Hungarian Attila Balázs (6-1, 6-1 and 6-0) and then prevailed against the Australian Christopher O’Connell (6-2, 6-2 , 6-7 and 6-2). It is the first confrontation between the Argentine and the Russian in the history between the two.
With this victory, Medvedev will meet the Australian Alex De Minaur, who in the previous one beat the Chilean Nicolás Jarry 6-1, 6-3 and 6-2 in just over an hour and a half of activity on Court 17 .
It must be remembered that the action for the Argentine tennis player did not begin in the popular Grand Slam in the United States. Seba, former world number 1 in juniors, had 10 wins in a row in the two preparatory tournaments for this event: he was champion of the ATP in Kitzbühel and then in the ATP in Winston-Salem. In this way, he added resounding successes against tennis players of the stature of Roberto Carballés Baena, Tomás Etcheverry, Dominic Thiem, Laslo Djere, Borna Coric and Jiri Lehecka.
Then, his winning streak went up to 12 victories at the US Open for the current 32nd in the ranking. The projection indicates that he will possibly jump up the ATP ladder to sign his new best career ranking after being 30th on the planet in April of this year.
The 22-year-old tennis player is currently one of the best representatives in the country. He won four titles in his short professional career and has already signed an impressive statistic that places him on a par with Diego Schwartzman, Federico Delbonis or Carlos Berlocq, who also rose to the top four times. This left him one step away from matching the five crowns of surnames of the likes of Agustín Calleri and Gustavo Luza.
The Russian competitor is undoubtedly one of the greatest exponents on the current circuit. He was number 1 in the world at the beginning of 2022 and came to this contest as 3 of the count. In this 2023 he already celebrated five titles –including the Masters 1000 in Rome and Miami–, which added to his showcases to reach 20 cups in his professional statistics. At 27, he already knows what it’s like to win the US Open with the memorable 2021 victory over Novak Djokovic with a triple 6-4. In the Grand Slam range, he also signed a final at the 2019 US Open and two other lost definitions at the Australian Open (2021 and 2022).
The Argentine, for his part, has already signed his best numbers in a Grand Slam since he had a first foray into the 2021 Roland Garros qualy. Until the US Open, his most outstanding performances had been the second phase in 2022 of the Australian Open, Wimbledon and Roland Garros. Something that he could not repeat in this 2023, where he was eliminated in the debuts of the first major tournaments on the circuit.
With the defeat of Seba Bárez, there are no longer any Argentines left in the US Open singles draw, since the rest also said goodbye to the last Grand Slam of the season in tennis. Nadia Podoroska, Peque Schwartzman, Francisco Cerundolo, Juan Manuel Cerundolo, Guido Pella, Pedro Cachin, Tomás Etcheverry and Facundo Díaz Acosta.
Báez, Fran Cerundolo, Etcheverry, Andrés Molteni and Máximo González will be the stars of the Argentina Davis Cup team that will face Lithuania at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club after the US Open, on September 16 and 17.
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