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Francisco Cerundolo of Argentina beat his compatriot Sebastian Baez 7-6(4), 6-2 to win the Bastad Open title on Sunday in a title match that lasted nearly two hours. It was the maiden ATP title for the 23-year-old Argentine who dominated Baez for the majority of the match.
Let’s take a look at three factors that stood out in the match:
#1 Sebastian Baez got a break in the first game, but Francisco Cerundolo was quick to strike back and then win the set:
Baez broke Cerundolo in the very first game of the match, but Cerundolo was quick to break back in the very next game. The two players then went on to hold their respective serves for the remainder of the first set which went into a tiebreak.
Cerundolo then raced to a 4-0 lead in the tiebreak and extended the lead to 6-2. Baez then managed to save a couple of set points, but Cerundolo was able to win the set as the former committed a double fault on the third set point.
Baez started strongly by playing his shots deep and pushing Cerundolo back while using his backhand slice extensively to take the pace off the ball. However, Cerundolo defended very well from the baseline and served consistently after the first game to win the set.
#2 Francisco Cerundolo started the second set strongly to break Sebastian Baez and move ahead:
Both Cerundolo and Baez managed to hold their serve in the first two games of the second set, but the former managed to get a break in the third game. Cerundolo then held his serve in the next game to take a decisive 3-1 lead.
Towards the end of the first set, Cerundolo started playing the angles very well to make Baez move from side to side and the tactic paid off. Moreover, he came up with occasional drop shots to surprise and shake his opponent's rhythm. He also played the inside-out forehand more often in the second set to put pressure on Baez's backhand.
#3 Francisco Cerundolo broke Sebastian Baez once again to walk away with the match:
Cerundolo broke Baez again in the fifth game of the second set to go 4-1 up. He then held his serve to extend the lead to 5-1. Baez held his serve in the next game, but Cerundolo then managed to serve out the match by winning the eighth game for love.
Cerundolo kept moving Baez from side to side and then pulled the trigger at times to come up with a few stunning down-the-line winners off his forehand. Baez tried to come to the net occasionally, but Cerundolo managed to come up with strong passing shots.
The diminutive Baez often could not fire his first serve with enough power, as Cerundolo put pressure on it with his returns. Baez only won 53% of the points on his first serve in the match. Cerundolo, meanwhile, won 44% of the points in his return games.
