Sebastián Báez
won his most important title on the professional tennis circuit, when he was crowned champion of the
ATP 500 in Rio Janeiro
in the Argentine final against
Mariano Navone
, whom he beat 6-2, 6-1.
At 23 years old, the winner took his
fifth championship
, since he had won four ATP 250 events: Estoril 2022 and Winston-Salem, Kitzbühel and Córdoba 2023.
There were no equivalences between the fifth seed of the tournament and Navone, who played
the first final
of his professional career after the best week of his life, since in the semifinal he obtained his first victory against a top 50, defeating the British
Cameron Norrie
.
Since the Open Era of tennis, in April 1968,
Argentina has accumulated 234 titles
on the ATP circuit, making it the fifth most winning country.
The United States leads that ranking with 1,057 consecrations and is followed by Spain (438), Australia (289) and Sweden (276).
Báez had just beaten
Francisco Cerúndolo
7-5 and 6-0 in the semifinal , with whom he was very close in the world ranking, in the fight to be the best Argentine tennis player located in the rankings.
While
Fran
is 20th with 1,840 points, Báez is 21st,
the best position of his career
, with 1,825.
"Incredible, but I want more," said the champion.
He is followed by Tomás Etcheverry in 27th place.
Sebastián Báez returns against his compatriot Mariano Navone at the ATP 500 in Rio. Photo EFE
On the main court of the Jockey Club, called
Guga Kuerten
, who was present and received a standing ovation from the spectators, Báez hit the ground running in the final with a devastating 4-0.
Navone reacted with a break and took it out for 4-2, but the champion from then on was a steamroller.
He first took the remaining two games of the first set to make it 6-2 and then broke twice to go up 4-0 in the second.
Navone did not want to go to love and broke Báez in the fifth game for 4-1, but it was his last effort.
It was the Sunday of the Buenos Aires native, who won his fifth title.
Both tennis players are registered to play this week at the
ATP 250 in Santiago
, Chile, where Navone will debut against the Peruvian
Juan Pablo Varillas
.
The curious thing is that the winner of that match will face Báez, second seed, in the round of 16.