Argentina's Sebastian Baez continued to make himself at home in Chile on Friday at the Movistar Chile Open, with the third seed improving to 28-3 in the nation including matches across the ATP Tour, the ATP Challenger Tour and ATP qualifying.
The 22-year-old's latest victory was a 7-6(4), 6-4 triumph against sixth seed Laslo Djere in a matchup of the only two seeds in the singles quarter-finals at the Santiago ATP 250.
"I feel so comfortable. The people, everything," Baez said of his time in Chile. "Every match I always say the same, but it's real."
[ATP APP]
Baez won a tight opening set that included just a single break point, which Djere saved in the first game, but the Argentine surrendered an early break in the second. From 1-3, Baez won five of the final six games, including two love holds and a match-clinching break on his third match point after opening a 0/40 advantage.
"It was our first meeting so it was really close in both sets," Baez said. "Maybe in the difficult moments I felt better than him, so maybe that's the reason I took the match. I'm happy for that and to stay in the tournament."
Two wins from his second title of the season (Cordoba), he will next meet Tomas Martin Etcheverry in an all-Argentine semi-final. Etcheverry advanced to his first ATP Tour semi-final with a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Dusan Lajovic, backing up the biggest win of his career against second seed and World No. 32 Francisco Cerundolo on Thursday.
Up eight places to No. 68 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, the 23-year-old is set for a new career high on Monday.
Chile's Nicolas Jarry and Spain's Jaume Munar will meet in the second Santiago semi-final after both men scored three-set wins on Friday.
Jarry advanced to his second tour-level semi-final in as many weeks after he came within two games of beating Carlos Alcaraz last week in the Rio de Janeiro last four. After beating Diego Schwartzman in a third-set tie-break on Wednesday, Jarry came from behind for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against Yannick Hanfmann in the quarter-finals.
The Chilean faced just two break points in the match, saving one in the second set, and won sets two and three behind an early break in each.
Munar beat Thiago Monteiro 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to reach his fourth tour-level semi-final and his first since 2021. All four of his ATP Tour semi-finals have come on clay. The Spaniard dominated the first and final sets behind fast starts, building a 5-0 lead in the opener and a 4-0 lead in the decider.
Saturday's semi-finals are set to begin at 10 p.m. CET/4 p.m. ET, with Baez and Etcheverry opening the singles action on centre court.
The 22-year-old's latest victory was a 7-6(4), 6-4 triumph against sixth seed Laslo Djere in a matchup of the only two seeds in the singles quarter-finals at the Santiago ATP 250.
"I feel so comfortable. The people, everything," Baez said of his time in Chile. "Every match I always say the same, but it's real."
[ATP APP]
Baez won a tight opening set that included just a single break point, which Djere saved in the first game, but the Argentine surrendered an early break in the second. From 1-3, Baez won five of the final six games, including two love holds and a match-clinching break on his third match point after opening a 0/40 advantage.
"It was our first meeting so it was really close in both sets," Baez said. "Maybe in the difficult moments I felt better than him, so maybe that's the reason I took the match. I'm happy for that and to stay in the tournament."
Two wins from his second title of the season (Cordoba), he will next meet Tomas Martin Etcheverry in an all-Argentine semi-final. Etcheverry advanced to his first ATP Tour semi-final with a 6-1, 6-2 victory against Dusan Lajovic, backing up the biggest win of his career against second seed and World No. 32 Francisco Cerundolo on Thursday.
Up eight places to No. 68 this week in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings, the 23-year-old is set for a new career high on Monday.
Chile's Nicolas Jarry and Spain's Jaume Munar will meet in the second Santiago semi-final after both men scored three-set wins on Friday.
Jarry advanced to his second tour-level semi-final in as many weeks after he came within two games of beating Carlos Alcaraz last week in the Rio de Janeiro last four. After beating Diego Schwartzman in a third-set tie-break on Wednesday, Jarry came from behind for a 3-6, 6-3, 6-4 win against Yannick Hanfmann in the quarter-finals.
The Chilean faced just two break points in the match, saving one in the second set, and won sets two and three behind an early break in each.
Munar beat Thiago Monteiro 6-3, 3-6, 6-2 to reach his fourth tour-level semi-final and his first since 2021. All four of his ATP Tour semi-finals have come on clay. The Spaniard dominated the first and final sets behind fast starts, building a 5-0 lead in the opener and a 4-0 lead in the decider.
Saturday's semi-finals are set to begin at 10 p.m. CET/4 p.m. ET, with Baez and Etcheverry opening the singles action on centre court.