Hamburg
Baez is now the player with the most victories on clay in 2024
The Argentine is in the quarter-finals in Hamburg, as is Cerúndolo
July 17, 2024
Mathias Schulz/Hamburg Open
Sebastián Báez reached the quarter-finals in Hamburg for the first time.
By ATPTour.com/es Staff
Sebastián Báez has built his rise in the PIF ATP Rankings on clay to become the player with the most match wins this season on the surface.
The Argentine, who starts as the third seed, came from behind to beat Dusan Lajovic 4-6, 7-5, 6-2 at the Hamburg Open on Wednesday to advance to the quarter-finals of the German ATP 500 in two hours and 40 minutes for the first time in his career.
With this, there are now 18 qualifications to the quarter-finals (10-7 in this round) and 17 of them have been signed on clay, a surface that he leads in 2024 with 22 victories, ahead of Casper Ruud (21) and Luciano Darderi (19).
In the second round he had to work on his pass against an opponent against whom he held a Lexus ATP Head2Head in his favour by 2-1. And this time he added another victory to the face-to-face, showing why he is a specialist on the surface. He fought until the end to change the dynamic of a duel that seemed like it would go the other way.
Without great numbers with the serve (65%) and with many missed opportunities on return with 4/19 in break opportunities (21%), he clung to the German clay to boost his chances of staying alive in Hamburg.
Baez, who sits at No. 18 in the PIF Live ATP Rankings (which would equal his career-best ranking), has won two titles this season (Rio de Janeiro and Santiago) and is bidding in Hamburg to become only the third player since 2009, joining Rafael Nadal and Carlos Alcaraz, to win two ATP 500 titles on clay.
His compatriot Francisco Cerúndolo, who is seeded No. 4, had no trouble overcoming his second-round match on Centre Court at Rothenbaum Stadium against local Maximilian Marterer 6-0, 6-2.
“Honestly, it is always difficult, the first match when you change surfaces. Today I moved better than the day before, with more confidence,” admitted the eldest of the Cerúndolo brothers.
The 2022 Hamburg semi-finalist made it to the last eight for the fourth time this season, having previously done so in Rio de Janeiro, Bucharest and the ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid. To advance, he will have to beat Pedro Martinez.
The Spaniard is showing his warrior character on the German clay, coming back for the second consecutive match. In his debut he turned around a 2-5 deficit in the first set against Matteo Arnaldi (7-6)[4]6-1), in the second round he took a 2-5 lead in the third set against Ugo Blanchet.
The Valencian ended up winning 6-4, 0-6, 7-5 in two hours and 23 minutes against the Frenchman from the qualifying phase.
Source: https://www.atptour.com/es/news/hamburgo-2024-miercoles-segunda-ronda-baez-cerundolo
