Sebastián Báez achieved an unprecedented title in his career with a great display of character

Sebastian Baez confirmed his great season with a new title by being crowned champion of the ATP 250 of Winston Salemin the United States, after beating the Czech Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-3 in the final today.

Báez, ranked 42nd in the ATP world ranking, built his victory over Lehecka (35) in one hour and 34 minutes to win his third trophy of the year, the previous ones at the Córdoba Open and Kitzbuhel, in Austria.

The tennis player born in the San Martín match in Buenos Aires 22 years ago, who had also been champion last year in Estoril, Portugal, demonstrated his great evolution, especially physically, and thus won his first title on a fast surface, since the previous three had been on brick dust.

Báez, who had already defeated Lehecka (35) the previous time they met, in the Davis Cup series that the Argentine team and their Czech Republic hosted last year in Buenos Aires, showed great determination to overcome a adverse start to the match in which they found themselves down 3-1 on the scoreboard.

The Argentine adjusted his return, breaking twice on his rival’s serve, and showed great leg speed to take the opening set 6-4, with no trace of the wear and tear he had inflicted in Friday’s semifinal when he pulled out of the tournament. the top favorite for the title, the Croatian Borna Coric (29), in a match that was resolved in the third set and after three hours and 20 minutes of intense fighting.

In the second set, Báez started back down on the scoreboard (0-2) but that did not discourage him, on the contrary, he kept trying until he recovered and moved to the front.

Báez broke the Czech’s serve twice to move ahead 2-1, 3-2, and then served very well, shooting 74 per cent of points won every time he hit his first serve.

The Argentine took the game with a new break that allowed him to close 6-3 and it came after a double fault from the Czech, erratic and discouraged because he was outplayed on the field.

Báez completed a great week in which he achieved successive victories over the Colombian Daniel Elahí Galán (70) in the initial round, the Australian Alexander Vukic (51) in the round of 16, the Serbian Laslo Djere (34) in the quarterfinals, the mentioned Croatian Coric (29) in the semifinals, and Lehecka in the decisive match.

“I am very happy for the title and for everything I achieved during this week. It is very good to arrive at the US Open like this and I hope I recover well because I will have a difficult debut”Baéz analyzed in his first statements, with the trophy in his hands.

Winston Salem’s ATP 250, on a fast surface, distributed prizes of $850,680 and was the prelude to the US Open, the fourth and last Grand Slam of the year that will begin on Monday in New York and in which Báez will face Coric again, this time in the opening round.

“I thank all my team who helped me throughout the week and it was very important to have won the title. When I was down on the scoreboard, my coach asked me to stay focused, to get my good feelings back, and luckily I was able to do it”revealed Báez, alluding to his coach Sebastián Gutiérrez, who accompanies him in each tournament together with physical trainer Martiniano Orazi.

The title in Winston Salem will allow Báez to climb 10 positions and as of Monday he will be 32nd in the world, when the ATP updates its ranking.

In addition, Báez was one step away from equaling a mark set by Juan Martín Del Potro from Tandil, the last Argentine tennis player who had won more than three titles in one year when he was crowned champion in 2013 at the ATP tournaments in Basel (Switzerland), Tokyo, Washington and Rotterdam (Netherlands).

Báez’s title is the fifth for Argentine tennis players in 2023 and on three different surfaces, since Francisco Cerúndolo was champion on the grass in Eastbourne (England) and Pedro Cachín from Cordoba in Gstaad (Switzerland), also on brick dust.

In addition, with the conquest of Báez in Winston Salem, Argentina reached the figure of 232 titles in history, the most winning being the colossus from Mar del Plata Guillermo Vilas with 62.