Sebastian Baez came over Austrian Wildcard Dominic Thiem for a 6-3, 6-1 to clinch Generali Open as the title drought for the Austrian continues.
Baez defeated #72 path to final included three straight sets victories against Serbian qualifier Hamad Medjedovic, Spaniard Carballes Baena, Slovakian Alex Molcan and a three-set win against Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the semifinal.
While his opponent Dominic Thiem, #116 ranked, playing at home in Kitzbühel Tennis Club came over Argentine Facundo Bagnis, Zhizhen Zhang of China, France’s Arthur Rinderknech and Serbian Laslo Djere – the last three being three-setters – to book a final berth.
Baez who came to Kitzbuhel on a four-match losing streak from grass season, proved to be a party crasher for the home favorite Austrian came up with a near-flawless brand of tennis as he delivered a stunning championship-match performance. The Austrian Clay which hosts the final tour-level clay tourney of the season, saw some finest display of heavy hitting against the two-time French Open finalist (2018, 2019) and two-time semifinalist (2016, 2017) who follows a hard path on return from injury.
The 22-year old registered a 6-3, 6-1 final win against 2019 Kitzbühel Champion to have his second tour-level title in 2023 season. The Argentine posted 4-1 lead in the opener and with the double-break closed the set 6-3. Second set was a clinic as he won four games in a row to wrap the 80-min win in Style.
“I know all the people wanted Domi to win because he is from here, sorry,” said Baez to the crowd in his on-court interview. “I’m happy not just for today, but the whole week. All the people, the crowd, made me feel so comfortable here this week. I know this weather is not the best, but this place is amazing, and I enjoyed every day. I’m happy to take the match.
“Congrats to Domi and his team. It was a great week [for them], so I hope he comes back to his best level.”
Thiem really fought hard to hang around at Generali Open and it is never easy to enter a 250-final after surviving back to back three-set ties. Baez on the other hand took the full advantage to nullify the vocal home crowd that rallied behind the home favorite in Austrian Alps. The Argentinean is now 2-0 against the fellow clay-courter in Head-to-Head and has won all of his three tour titles on clay and all are ATP 250s. He has previously lifted trophies at Cordoba and Estoril in Feb 2023 and 2022 respectively.
“I just want to enjoy this moment. It was an amazing week,” said Baez. “I will try to enjoy it with [my team]. We know the past few weeks were not the best results, so we will try to enjoy this moment.”
As for the Austrian, despite the heartbreaking final loss in the fairytale run in Kitzbühel, the 29-year old is currently 27 spots up to take sit to take #89 spot. He is fighting hard to recuperate the confidence and aggression under pressure that he had before incurring the wrist surgery. The big question is whether Domi holds up physically because there will be a lot of 22-years standing opposite him to ask the same during the North American hardcourt swing.