Sebastian Baez Upsets Borna Coric (Again!) to Reach Second Round of US Open

Sebastian Baez has notched a second consecutive win against Borna Coric.

The 22-year-old Argentine professional tennis player defeated Coric, the No 27 seed, 7-5, 7-5, 6-1 on Tuesday to advance to the second round of the US Open at the USTA Billie Jean King National Tennis Center in New York.

Sebastian Baez,

Just days ago, Baez and Coric played an epic three-set match in the semifinals of the Winston-Salem Open, with the Argentinian claiming the match in three hours, 19 minutes by way of third set tiebreak.

Baez went on to win the title, his second in a row.

Now, meeting for the second time in three days, Baez has yet again upset his higher ranked opponent, this time going about his business seamlessly to keep his 11-match win-streak alive.

After two tight sets, which again saw Baez go up breaks and fail to hold on to his leads, the world No 32 ran away with the third set, 6-1.

Baez will play Brazilian qualifier Felipe Meligeni Alves next.

Sebastian Baez Defeats Jiri Lehecka to Claim Winston-Salem Open Title

Sebastian Baez’s winning streak continues…

The 22-year-old Argentine tennis player produced a squeaky clean performance Saturday to win the Winston-Salem Open and extend his winning streak to 10 matches after also claiming the ATP 250 event in Kitzbühel three weeks ago.

Sebastian Baez Baez, the tournament’s sixth seed, needed just one hour, 34 minutes to defeat fifth seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-3 and capture his first tour-level title on hard courts and third trophy of the season.

He’s now the first Argentine to win three titles in a season since Juan Martin del Potro (4) in 2013.

Despite a marathon three-hour, 19-minute semifinal against Borna Coric on Friday night, Baez showed no signs of fatigue as he stayed patient in baseline rallies and struck the ball cleanly. Lehecka, who was competing in his first tour-level final, advanced to the title match after receiving a walkover from third seed Sebastian Korda, who suffered an ankle injury in the quarterfinals.

A pivotal moment came when Baez saved four break points when serving at 5-4 to close a 54-minute opening set. Baez stayed focussed despite trailing by a break early in both sets and won four consecutive games from 0-2 in the second.

Sebastian Baez “[My coach told me] to keep going, try and stay focused on good things,” Baez said. “It was just a bad start, but happy with the result and all of this week.”

Lehecka tried to move forward in the latter stages of the match to apply pressure on the World No. 42, but lacked the consistency needed to down a watertight Baez, who thrilled the crowd with several passing shots to improve to 2-0 in his ATPHead2Head series with the Czech.

Following his triumph, Baez will move to No. 32 in the ATP Rankings on Monday, just two spots shy of tying his career-high. He’ll next aim to maintain his form at the US Open, where he opens against 25th seed Coric.

“It’s nice to have that confidence, but now I have to think about my recovery after this week, and then after I will think about the US Open,” Baez said. “I have a few days to recover and to focus again on a new tournament.”

Pablo Carreno Busta Reaches Hamburg Open Final

Pablo Carreno Busta is one win away from his sixth ATP title…

The 30-year-old Spanish player defeated Argentina’s Federico Delbonis 7-6 (2), 6-3 on Saturday to reach the Hamburg Open.

Pablo Carreno Busta

Carreno Busto, who last won a title at the Andalucia Open in April, will face Serbia’s Filip Krajinovic in the final.

His other titles include the Chengdu Open in September 2019, the Estoril Open in May 2017, the Kremlin Cup in October 2016 and the Winston-Salem Open in August 2016.

Carreno Busto is currently ranked No. 13 in the world.

Roberto Bautista Agut Claims Winston-Salem Open Title Without Dropping a Set

Roberto Bautista Agut makes history while claiming his first title at the Winston-Salem Open

The 29-year-old Spanish tennis player defeated Damir Dzumhur 6-4, 6-4 on Saturday in the final of the Winston-Salem Open, giving him his second ATP World Tour title of the year and the sixth overall.

Roberto Bautista Agut

Bautista Agut, the tournament’s top seed and currently ranked No. 15 in the world, became the first player in the seven-year history of the tournament to not lose a set in any of his six matches. He won a year after losing the final to countryman Pablo Carreno Busta.

“It was a tough final, but I played very good tennis all week,” Bautista Agut said. “I wanted to try to arrive at the final and it was a very good week for me. And it’s been a very good year for me now, too.”

The unseeded Dzumhur was the first player from Bosnia-Herzegovina to reach an ATP World Tour final.

“I started both sets love-three down and came back, but it’s not easy to win after being down love-three to win a set against any player, but especially against Roberto, who played a great week,” Dzumhur said. “He played with a lot of confidence and played big points so good, especially both sets at four-all. He played great points and great passing shots, and I just didn’t have a lot of chances in those games.”

Bautista Agut broke at 30-40, closing out the match when Dzumhur’s forehand sailed long at 30-40.

“It was a tough final, but I played very good tennis all week,” Bautista Agut said. “I wanted to try to arrive at the final and it was a very good week for me. And it’s been a very good year for me now, too.”

Bautista Agut had a chance to win the match on his serve when he led 5-3, but was broken at love.

Bautista Agut broke Dzumhur to win the first set, then won the first three games of the second set before Dzumhur rallied to win the next three games and tie it 3-3.

Bautista Agut held serve in the next game to take a 4-3 lead and broke Dzumhur again on a lob shot that hit the baseline for a 5-3 lead.

Carreño Busta Beats Fabio Fognini at the Kremlin Cup to Claim Second Career ATP Title

Pablo Carreño Busta is back in the winner’s circle…

The 25-year-old Spanish professional tennis player came back from a set down to beat Italy’s Fabio Fognini on Sunday and win the Kremlin Cup.

Pablo Carreño Busta

Carreño Busta won his second career title 4-6, 6-3, 6-2 despite needing treatment on his ankle midway through the second set.

Fognini saved two match points in the final game before Carreño Busta secured the win, dropping to his knees in celebration.

The victory caps a strong season for Carreño Busta, who won his first ATP title at the Winston-Salem Open in August.

He is 2-2 in career finals, while Fognini drops to 4-8.

Carreño Beats Roberto Bautista Agut at Winston-Salem Open to Win First Career Title

The third final’s the charm for Pablo Carreño Busta

The 25-year-old Spanish professional tennis player won his first ATP World Tour title on Saturday, beating countryman Roberto Bautista Agut in three sets in the Winston-Salem Open final.

Pablo Carreno Busta

Carreño, ranked 49th in the world, overcame dropping a first-set tiebreaker at the Wake Forest Tennis Center to upset 17th-ranked Agut 6-7 (8), 7-6 (1), 6-4 and win his first tour title in three final-round appearances, all coming in 2016.

Carreño needed just over 2½ hours to become the sixth first-time winner on the ATP World Tour this season, and the first to do so in an American tournament.

Agut was trying to win his third tournament this season, becoming the fifth player on tour to win three or more titles, and the fifth of his career. He won earlier this year at Auckland, New Zealand, and Sofia, Bulgaria.