Sixth seed Sebastian Baez produced a clean performance on 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 times. week ago.
The Argentine needed just one hour, 34 minutes to defeat fifth seed Jiri Lehecka 6-4, 6-3 and claim his first tour-level title on hard courts and third trophy of the season.
Despite a marathon three-hour, 19-minute semi-final against Borna Coric on Friday night, Baez showed no signs of fatigue as he remained patient in baseline rallies and cleanly hit the ball. 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 injured his ankle in the quarter-finals.
A key moment came when the 22-year-old Baez saved four break points while serving at 5-4 to close out the 54-minute opening set. Baez stayed focused despite being down early in both sets and reeled off four straight games from 0-2 down in the second.
“[My coach told me] to continue, try and stay focused on the good things, “said Baez. “It was a bad start, but happy with the result and everything this week.”
Lehecka tried to come forward in the later stages of the match to pressure the World No. 42, but lacked the consistency needed to defeat a watertight Baez, who excited the crowd with several passing shots to improve to 2-0 in his Lexus The ATPHead2Head series with the Czech.
The Buenos Aires native is the first Argentine to win three or more tour-level titles in a season since Juan Martin del Potro (4) in 2013.
After his victory, Baez will move to No. 32 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings this Monday, just two spots shy of tying his career-high. He will next try to maintain his form in the US Open, where he will open against the 25th seed, Coric.
“It’s nice to have that confidence, but now I have to think about my recovery after this week, and then I’ll think about the US Open,” Baez said. “I have a few days to recover and refocus on a new tournament.”
Lehecka is aiming to become the first Czech to win a tour-level title since 2020. A finalist at last year’s Next Gen ATP Finals, Lehecka will climb to a career-high No. 30 on Monday. He will face Aslan Karatsev in the first round of the season’s final major.
“Hopefully the next tournament will be happier for me, but a good week, positive week ahead in New York. Many good memories from here,” said Lehecka.
Did you know?
In 2023, four players have won three or more titles at the tour level: Carlos Alcaraz (6), Daniil Medvedev (5), Novak Djokovic (4) and Baez.