Argentine Baez wins back-to-back Rio Open titles

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Argentine Baez wins back-to-back Rio Open titles

Argentina’s Sebastian Baez has become the first player to retain his title at the Rio Open by beating France’s Alexandre Muller 6-2 6-3.

The 24-year-old Baez quickly found his rhythm on Sunday, breaking Muller in the seventh game to take a 5-2 lead before closing out the first set to love.

Despite Muller’s best efforts in the second set, where he took a 3-2 lead and put the South American under pressure, Baez rallied and wrapped up the contest in 86 minutes, hitting 26 winners and making just 23 unforced errors.

“It’s been tough all week and over the last month, but I’m so happy now, for the title and of course for every match I played,” Baez, the fifth seed, said.

“You want to win every final, every title, but I tried to concentrate in every game, one point at a time. I think the support is very important, so I’m grateful for my team,” he added.

The world No.31, captured his fourth trophy on South American soil and has clinched six of his seven crowns on clay, with the exception coming on hard courts in Winston-Salem.

Baez is the third man to successfully defend his 2024 title this season after Italian Jannik Sinner at the *********** Open and Ugo Humbert of France in Marseille.

Muller was aiming to capture his second tour-level title, having triumphed in Hong Kong earlier this season. The 28-year-old will rise to a career-high ranking of 41 on Monday.

With AAP.

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