Argentina’s Sebastian Baez put on an impressive performance to reach the final of the Nordea Open after beating Russia’s Andrey Rublev in the semi-finals in Bastad, Sweden on Saturday.
In a clash of two high-powered forehands, it was Baez whose striking the ball put Rublev on the run more often as he secured a 6-2, 6-4 victory in the pair’s first ATP face-to-face meeting .
World No. 34 broke Rublev’s serve four times en route to a 75-minute victory, earning him a place in his third Tour-level final.
“I think I played better than I did yesterday,” Baez said on Friday, referring to his hard-hitting three-set quarterfinal win against Dominic Thiem.
“I am happy to win and continue in the tournament,” he said.
Baez now faces another player at Tour level in fellow Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo. Despite having never faced each other at an ATP Tour event, the pair know each other well – Beige Futures and ATP Challenger leads Cerundolo 2-1 from three meetings at Tour level.
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“I think it will be a tough match as we have known each other for many years. But I have to give my best. It’s a new tournament, a new final, another week. So, I’m happy to be in the finals, and of course, I want more,” Baez said.
Last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals semifinalist 21-year-old Baez won his first ATP Tour title in Estoril in early May.
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Earlier in the day, No. 39 Cerundolo put on a skilful all-round performance to register a 6-3, 6-2 semi-final win over fifth seed Pablo Carreo Busta to reach the final.
Saturday’s win against Busta in their first ATP one-on-one meeting lifted Argentina to 32nd place in the ATP Live rankings. The win increased Cerundolo’s 2022 record to 16-11 and his record against top 20 opponents this year is now 3-4.
If he lifts his maiden Tour-level trophy in Sweden on Sunday, Argentina could reach number 30 in this Monday’s update of the ATP rankings.
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