KITZBUHEL, Austria: Sebastian Baez cruised to a 6-3, 6-1 victory over wild card and hometown favourite Dominic Thiem yesterday in the final of the Generali Open in Kitzbuhel, Austria.
Backed by his home crowd, Thiem recorded five aces while Baez didn't pick up one, but it was Baez who ended up prevailing. The Argentine was able to string together wins with ease, opening up a 4-1 lead in the first set before winning the last four games of the second to secure the title.
It took just 80 minutes for Baez to complete the sweep.
Despite the loss, Thiem was still able to move up 27 spots in the Pepperstone ATP Live Rankings thanks to his strong run. He now sits at No 89.
At the Mubadala DC Open, No 12 seed Tallon Griekspoor of the Netherlands overcame an early deficit to upset top-seeded American Taylor Fritz 3-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the semi-finals in Washington.
Griekspoor racked up 13 aces and won 37 of 46 first-service points to oust the No 1 seed. Fritz saved seven of 10 breakpoints, but it wasn't enough to advance to the final. Griekspoor will face ninth seed Daniel Evans of Great Britain in the final.
In a match that neared two hours long, Evans defeated Bulgarian No 5 seed Grigor Dimitrov 6-3, 7-6 (4). Evans broke away from a 3-3 tie in the second set tiebreaker to lead 5-3. After he lost a service point to Dimitrov, Evans won the next two points on Dimitrov's serve to clinch the match.
MIFEL TENNIS OPEN
Top-seeded Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece knocked off the No 5 seed, Alex de Minaur of Australia, 6-3, 6-4 in 86 minutes in the final in Los Cabos, Mexico.
Tsitsipas jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the second set, but de Minaur won four of the next five games to take a 4-3 lead. Tsitsipas then won three straight games to clinch the match.
de Minaur was hurt by three double faults, while Tsitsipas committed zero. Tsitsipas also won 23 of 28 first-service points en route to the title. --REUTERS