Báez establishes himself in Geneva as the leader of victories on clay in 2024 | ATP Tour

Match Chronicle

Báez establishes himself in Geneva as the leader of victories on clay in 2024

Novak Djokovic’s first rival in the tournament will be defined on Monday

May 19, 2024

After a positive week in Rome, which included a victory against the Danish Holger Rune, Sebastián Báez has started his campaign with authority at the Gonet Geneva Open, one of the two tournaments prior to Roland Garros along with the Open Parc de Lyon.

The Argentine, who from this Monday will appear at No. 20 in the PIF ATP Rankings, debuted with a hard-fought victory in Geneva against the Indian Sumit Nagal, whom he defeated with sets of 7-6(7), 6-3, and after one hour and 40 minutes of play.

The 23-year-old right-hander was down a break in the first set and faced a set point in the tie-break, but he bounced back. Once the storm passed in the opening set, the fifth seed faced no break points on his serve in the second set to advance in their first Lexus ATP Head2Head meeting.

His victory on the opening day in Geneva means his 18th of the year in these conditions and consolidates him as the leader in matches won on clay in the season (he is also the leader in titles on the surface in 2024, with two). In terms of victories on clay in the year, he is followed by the Italian Luciano Darderi (14), Casper Ruud (13) and Stefanos Tsitsipas (13).

Báez will be able to continue adding when he faces the Spanish Roberto Carballés Baena in the next round, who has just defeated the German Daniel Altmaier 7-6(2), 6-4. The Argentine leads the Lexus ATP HeadToHead 1-0 between them, after winning last year on the clay of Kitzbühel.

On Monday comes a day of six singles matches that includes that of Andy Murray, who will be competing on the ATP Tour for the first time since his injury in March during the Miami Masters 1000 (see schedule). If the Briton wins against Yannick Hanfmann, he will face first-seeded Novak Djokovic in the second round.