Two Argentine stars, Sebastian Baez and Federico Coria will square off in the finals of the 2023 Cordoba Open on Sunday in what promises to be an intriguing clash. Both players played some fantastic tennis and enthralled the fans. They deserve to be in the finals which will certainly grab a lot of attention from the tennis world.
The 22-year-old came into the tournament on the back of three losses and no wins in the season. Overall, he was on a six-match losing streak, with his last win coming in the first round of the Tennis Napoli Cup. Baez has turned things around drastically and is one win away from bagging his second ATP tour-level title.
Baez began 2023 by participating in the Maharashtra Open in India. He won the first set against Pedro Martinez but the Spaniard blew him away in the next two sets. In the ASB Classic, Baez entered as the 7th seed and crashed out in the round of 32 following a loss to Ben Shelton. Baez went on to play in the Australian Open. However, he couldn’t reach the second round after being ousted by Jason Kubler.
With his back to the wall, the Argentine youngster came to play in Cordoba. He was the 4th-seeded player and received a bye into the second round. He began with a comprehensive win against Luciano Darderi. In the quarterfinals, Baez outplayed Marcelo Tomas Barrios Vera in sets one and three to bag the match 6-1, 3-6, 6-1. He had an impressive win percentage of 80 on the first serve. In the semifinals, Baez faced Moldovan No. 1 Hugo Dellien. The former produced a determined display to win the match 6-4, 6-4. With this win, Baez made it to the finals of an ATP event for the fourth time in his career.
The experienced Argentine will be playing his second tour-level final on Sunday. He has shown a lot of grit and determination in the tournament and is one win away from winning a first tour-level title.
The 30-year-old qualified for the main draw of the ASB Classic where he lost to Marcos Giron in the first round after winning the first set. In the Australian Open, Coria had a grueling affair against Marton Fucsovics in the first round. He won two out of the first three sets but couldn’t capitalize on the lead. Coria went on to win a Challenger event in Concepcion, Chile to end January on a high.
In the round of 32, the 6th seed came back from a set down to defeat Thiago Monteiro. This is the only match where Coria lost a set so far in the competition. In the round of 16, he defeated Marco Cecchinato when the latter retired while trailing 3-6, 1-3. The quarterfinals saw Coria win yet another match when his opponent retired. This time, Coria was leading 6-3, 3-0. Coria played against Albert Ramos-Vinolas with a lot of confidence in the semis. The Spaniard’s great record on clay made him the favorite but that didn’t worry Coria one bit. He produced a gritty display to win the match 6-4, 7-6 (7-2).
Sebastian Baez and Federico Coria have never crossed paths as yet. Therefore, the head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as we wait to see who breaks the deadlock first.
Prediction: Sebastian Baez to win in three sets.
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