Sebastián Báez

Sebastián Báez (Spanish pronunciation: [seβasˈtjam ˈbaes];[a] born 28 December 2000) is an Argentine professional tennis player.He has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 19 achieved on 4 March 2024 and doubles ranking of world No. 514 achieved on 12 October 2020.

Sebastián Báez
Báez at the 2022 French Open
Country (sports) Argentina
ResidenceBuenos Aires, Argentina
Born (2000-12-28) 28 December 2000 (age 23)
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Height1.70 m (5 ft 7 in)
Turned pro2018
PlaysRight-handed (two-handed backhand)
CoachSebastián Gutiérrez
Prize moneyUS$ $2,790,742
Singles
Career record78–68 (53.4% in ATP Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles6
Highest rankingNo. 19 (4 March 2024)
Current rankingNo. 19 (4 March 2024)
Grand Slam singles results
Australian Open3R (2024)
French Open2R (2022)
Wimbledon2R (2022)
US Open3R (2023)
Doubles
Career record3–22 (12.0% in ATP Tour and Grand Slam main draw matches, and in Davis Cup)
Career titles0
Highest rankingNo. 514 (12 October 2020)
Grand Slam doubles results
Australian Open1R (2023, 2024)
French Open1R (2022, 2023)
Wimbledon1R (2022, 2023)
US Open1R (2022, 2023)
Medal record
Men's tennis
Representing  Argentina (ARG)
Summer Youth Olympics
Gold medal – first place2018 Buenos AiresDoubles
Last updated on: 29 January 2024.

Báez has won six ATP titles. He is the current Argentine No. 1 in singles.[1] He has also won six ATP Challengers, and five ITF singles and one doubles titles. Báez became the top-ranked junior in the ITF combined ranking on 12 March 2018.

Career

2021: ATP debut, six Challenger titles, NextGen finals & top 100

Báez made his ATP debut at the 2021 Chile Open where he lost to 2019 Junior French Open champion Holger Rune in straight sets.

He earned his first tour-level win at the 2021 Hamburg European Open, where he defeated Frenchman Corentin Moutet in the first round.

Baez became the youngest player in history to claim five ATP Challenger Tour titles in a season, lifting the trophy in Concepción (d. F. Cerundolo), Santiago (d. Barrios Vera), Zagreb (d. Varillas), Santiago-3 (d. Meligeni Rodrigues Alves) and Buenos Aires (d. Monteiro).He qualified for the 2021 Next Generation ATP Finals in Milan after the withdrawal of Jenson Brooksby due to an abdominal injury.[2] Baez advanced to the semifinals with wins over third seed Lorenzo Musetti and eighth seed Hugo Gaston. He lost in the semifinals against top seed Carlos Alcaraz.[3][4][5]

He reached the top 100 for the first time in his career at World No. 97 in the ATP year-end rankings on 22 November 2021 after winning his sixth Challenger in Campinas, Brazil.[6]

2022: Major debut & first wins, Maiden title & Top-10 win, Top 35 debut

Baez started the year in the 2022 Melbourne Summer Set 1 where he lost in the final round of qualifying and got in the main draw as a lucky loser. He was defeated by Emil Ruusuvuori in straight sets on the first round. The following week at the 2022 Sydney International, Baez got entry as a qualifier and defeated Christopher O'Connell in three sets. He lost in the second round to Lorenzo Sonego.

On his debut at the 2022 Australian Open he defeated Albert Ramos Viñolas for his first Grand Slam win in his career. In the second round he faced a top-10 opponent for the first time in his career, World No. 4 Stefanos Tsitsipas. He lost in four sets in a hard-fought match. As a result, he entered the top 80 at World No. 77 on 31 January 2022.

He reached his first ATP-level quarterfinal at the 2022 Córdoba Open, defeating Fernando Verdasco and World No. 18 and third seed Cristian Garín.[7] Baez received a wildcard in his hometown tournament, the 2022 Argentina Open, where he defeated Holger Rune and lost again to Lorenzo Sonego in the second round. The following week at the 2022 Rio Open, he surpassed the qualyifing stages with three-set wins against Nikola Milojević and Yannick Hanfmann. He was defeated by Thiago Monteiro in the first round.

At the 2022 Chile Open Baez was the 7th seed, the first time he was seeded in an ATP tournament. He reached his maiden ATP Tour final, defeating Juan Pablo Varillas, fellow countryman Juan Ignacio Londero, Thiago Monteiro and Albert Ramos Viñolas in the semifinals.[8] He lost to Pedro Martínez in the final. As a result, he reached the top 60 on 7 March 2022.

At the 2022 Estoril Open Baez reached the second semifinal of the season defeating third seed Marin Čilić and Richard Gasquet en route.[9] As a result of reaching the semifinals, he debuted in the top 50.[10][11] Next he defeated Albert Ramos Viñolas to reach his second final of the season and of his career.[12] He won his maiden title defeating third seed Frances Tiafoe and moved into the top 40 on 2 May 2022.[13]

He made his debut at the 2022 French Open and at the 2022 Wimbledon Championships and won his first match at each of the Majors defeating Dušan Lajović and Taro Daniel respectively.

He reached his third final at the 2022 Swedish Open in Båstad with a win over second seed, top-10 player Andrey Rublev,[14] where he lost to compatriot Francisco Cerúndolo.[15] He reached a career-high ranking of No. 32 on 18 July 2022.

In October seeded sixth, he defeated No. 50 Lorenzo Sonego at the 2022 Tennis Napoli Cup and snapped an 11-match losing streak.[16]

2023: Three ATP titles, top 30, US Open third round

In February, he won the second title of his career at the Córdoba Open in Argentina, defeating Luciano Darderi, Tomás Barrios Vera, Hugo Dellien, and compatriot Federico Coria on clay.[17]

He reached the top 30 in the rankings on 17 April 2023 following the 2023 Monte-Carlo Masters.

In August, Báez won the third and fourth titles of his career as part of a ten-match winning streak. He won the singles title at the Austrian Open Kitzbühel on clay, defeating Dominic Thiem in the final in straight sets.[18] Next, he won the singles title at the 2023 Winston-Salem Open on hard courts, defeating Jiří Lehečka in the final also in straight sets.[19][20]

At the US Open he reached the third round of a Major for the first time defeating 27th seed Borna Ćorić and Felipe Meligeni Alves[21] before losing to eventual finalist and third seed Daniil Medvedev.[22]

2024: First ATP 500 title, Latin American No. 1, top 20

Following the 2024 Australian Open where he reached a Grand Slam third round for the second time in his career, he moved to a new career-high into the top 25 in the singles rankings.

As the defending champion, at the 2024 Córdoba Open, he reached the semifinals for a second consecutive year[23] but lost to qualifier Luciano Darderi. Seeded fifth, he reached the biggest final of his career at the 2024 Rio Open defeating fourth seed and compatriot Francisco Cerúndolo.[24][25] He won his fifth and biggest title defeating qualifier and first time ATP finalist, compatriot Mariano Navone.[26] As a result he moved to a new career-high ranking of world No. 21 on 26 February 2024.The following week, at the 2024 Chile Open he won his second title of the season defeating home favorite Alejandro Tabilo. As a result he became the Latin American No. 1 player when he moved into the top 20 in the rankings at world No. 19.[27][28]

ATP Tour career finals

Singles: 8 (6 titles, 2 runner-ups)

Legend (singles)
Grand Slam tournaments (0–0)
ATP Finals (0–0)
ATP Tour Masters 1000 (0–0)
ATP Tour 500 Series (1–0)
ATP Tour 250 Series (5–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–0)
Clay (5–2)
Grass (0–0)
Finals by setting
Outdoor (6–2)
Indoor (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss0–1Feb 2022Chile Open, Chile 250 SeriesClay Pedro Martínez6–4, 4–6, 4–6
Win1–1Apr 2022Estoril Open, Portugal 250 SeriesClay Frances Tiafoe6–3, 6–2
Loss1–2Jul 2022Swedish Open, Sweden 250 SeriesClay Francisco Cerúndolo6–7(4–7), 2–6
Win2–2Feb 2023Córdoba Open, Argentina250 SeriesClay Federico Coria6–1, 3–6, 6–3
Win3–2Aug 2023Austrian Open, Austria250 SeriesClay Dominic Thiem6–3, 6–1
Win4–2Aug 2023Winston-Salem, United States250 SeriesHard Jiří Lehečka6–4, 6–3
Win5–2Feb 2024Rio Open, Brazil500 SeriesClay Mariano Navone6–2, 6–1
Win6–2Mar 2024Chile Open, Chile250 SeriesClay Alejandro Tabilo3–6, 6–0, 6–4

ATP Challenger and Futures/ITF World Tennis Tour finals

Singles: 17 (11 titles, 6 runner-ups)

Legend (singles)
ATP Challenger Tour (6–3)
Futures/ITF World Tennis Tour (5–3)
Finals by surface
Hard (1–0)
Clay (10–6)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScore
Win1–0Apr 2019M15 Buenos Aires, ArgentinaWorld Tennis TourClay Agustín Velotti6–4, 6–0
Win2–0Jun 2019M15 Tabarka, TunisiaWorld Tennis TourClay Alexander Weis6–2, 6–4
Loss2–1Jul 2019M15 Tabarka, TunisiaWorld Tennis TourClay Enrico Dalla Valle6–3, 4–6, 4–6
Win3–1Jul 2019M15 Tabarka, TunisiaWorld Tennis TourClay Alexander Weis6–2, 6–2
Loss3–2Sep 2019M15 Santiago, ChileWorld Tennis TourClay Juan Manuel Cerúndolo1–6, 6–2, 3–6
Win4–2Oct 2019M25 Rio de Janeiro, BrazilWorld Tennis TourClay Tomás Martín Etcheverry4–6, 6–4, 4–1 RET
Win5–2Jan 2020M15 Monastir, TunisiaWorld Tennis TourHard Gauthier Onclin6–1, 6–2
Loss5–3Sep 2020M25 Prague, Czech RepublicWorld Tennis TourClay Jiří Lehečka6–3, 3–6, 4–6
Win6–3Feb 2021Concepción, ChileChallengerClay Francisco Cerúndolo6–3, 6–7(5–7), 7–6(7–5)
Win7–3Mar 2021Santiago, ChileChallengerClay Marcelo Tomás Barrios Vera6–3, 7–6(7–4)
Win8–3May 2021Zagreb, CroatiaChallengerClay Juan Pablo Varillas3–6, 6–3, 6–1
Loss8–4June 2021Bratislava, SlovakiaChallengerClay Tallon Griekspoor6–7(6–8), 3–6
Loss8–5Sep 2021Kiev, UkraineChallengerClay Franco Agamenone5–7, 2–6
Loss8–6Oct 2021Santiago, ChileChallengerClay Juan Pablo Varillas4–6, 5–7
Win9–6Oct 2021Santiago, ChileChallengerClay Felipe Meligeni Alves3–6, 7–6(8–6), 6–1
Win10–6Oct 2021Buenos Aires, ArgentinaChallengerClay Thiago Monteiro6–4, 6–0
Win11–6Nov 2021Campinas, BrazilChallengerClay Thiago Monteiro6–1, 6–4

Doubles: 3 (1 title, 2 runner-ups)

Legend (doubles)
ATP Challenger Tour (0–0)
Futures/ITF World Tennis Tour (1–2)
Finals by surface
Hard (0–0)
Clay (1–2)
Grass (0–0)
Carpet (0–0)
ResultW–L   Date   TournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScore
Loss0–1Apr 2018Turkey F3, AntalyaFuturesClay Juan Pablo Paz Vít Kopřiva
Jaroslav Pospíšil
2–6, 0–6
Loss0–2Jun 2019M15 Tabarka, TunisiaWorld Tennis TourClay Nikolás Sánchez Izquierdo Nicolas Bianchi
Genaro Alberto Olivieri
4–6, 7–5, [4–10]
Win1–2Sep 2020M25 Prague, Czech RepublicWorld Tennis TourClay Pedro Cachin Lucas Miedler
Jan Zieliński
7–6(7–4), 6–1

Junior Grand Slam finals

Singles: 1 (1 runner-up)

ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScore
Loss2018French OpenClay Tseng Chun-hsin6–7(5–7), 2–6

Performance timeline

Key
W F SFQF#RRRQ#DNQANH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.

Current through the 2024 Chile Open.

Singles

Tournament2021202220232024SRW–LWin %
Grand Slam tournaments
Australian OpenA2R1R3R0 / 33–350%
French OpenQ12R1R0 / 21–233%
WimbledonQ12R1R0 / 21–233%
US OpenQ31R3R0 / 22–250%
Win–loss0–03–42–42–10 / 97–944%
ATP Tour Masters 1000
Indian Wells MastersA1R3R0 / 21–233%
Miami OpenA1R2R0 / 20–20%
Monte-Carlo MastersA1R1R0 / 20–20%
Madrid OpenAA3R0 / 11–150%
Italian OpenA2R2R0 / 22–250%
Canadian OpenA1RA0 / 10–10%
Cincinnati MastersA1RA0 / 10–10%
Shanghai MastersNH3R0 / 11–150%
Paris MastersA1R1R0 / 10–10%
Win–loss0–01–73–40 / 145–1328%
Career statistics
Tournaments22829764
Titles01326
Finals03328
Overall win–loss3–326–3031–2616–576–64
Win Percentage50%46%54%76%54.29%
Year-end ranking974328$3,335,892

Wins over top 10 players

  • He has a 1–13 (7.1%) record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.[29]
Season20222023Total
Wins101
#PlayerRankEventSurfaceRdScoreSBR
2022
1. Andrey Rublev8Swedish Open, SwedenClaySF6–2, 6–434

Longest winning streaks

12-match win streak (2023)

No.TournamentTierStart dateSurfaceRoundOpponentvsRankScore
Hamburg OpenATP 50023 July 2023Clay1R Casper Ruud (1)43–6, 6–1, 3–6
1Generali Open Kitzbühel ATP 25031 July 2023Clay1R Hamad Medjedovic (Q)1686–4, 6–2
22R Roberto Carballés Baena646–1, 6–2
3QF Alex Molčan816–4, 6–3
4SF Tomás Martín Etcheverry (1)347–6(7–5), 3–6, 6–4
5F Dominic Thiem (WC)946–3, 6–1
Winston-Salem OpenATP 25020 August 2023Hard1RBye
62R Daniel Elahi Galán673–6, 6–4, 6–4
73R Aleksandar Vukic (9)486–4, 4–6, 6–4
8QF Laslo Djere (4)346–3, 6–0
9SF Borna Ćorić (1)166–3, 6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–2)
10F Jiří Lehečka (5)356–4, 6–3
11US OpenGrand Slam28 August 2023Hard1R Borna Ćorić (27)237–5, 7–5, 6–1
122R Felipe Meligeni Alves (Q)1686–7(7–9), 6–4, 6–4, ret.
3R Daniil Medvedev (3)32–6, 2–6, 6–7(6–8)
Sources:[30]

10-match win streak (2024)

No.TournamentTierStart dateSurfaceRoundOpponentvsRankScore
Argentina OpenATP 25012 February 2024ClayQF Federico Coria (SE)1061–6, 4–6
1Rio OpenATP 50019 February 2022Clay1R Corentin Moutet (Q)1476–4, 6–3
22R Facundo Díaz Acosta597–6(7–1), 6–1
3QF Thiago Monteiro (WC)1176–4, 1–6, 6–2
4SF Francisco Cerúndolo (4)227–5, 6–0
5F Mariano Navone (Q)1136–2, 6–1
Chile OpenATP 25024 February 2024Clay1RBye
62R Juan Pablo Varillas1194–6, 6–4, 6–2
7QF Jaume Munar706–4, 6–4
8SF Pedro Martínez1016–4, 6–2
9F Alejandro Tabilo (4)513–6, 6–0, 6–4
Indian Wells MastersATP 10006 March 2024Hard1RBye
102R Fabio Fognini (WC)1087–5, 6–3
3R Taylor Fritz (12)122–6, 2–6
Sources:[31]

Notes

References

External links