Sebastián Báez was all happy after a great victory over Dominic Thiem in Bastad, but he also took a moment to pay his respects to the Austrian. On Friday, Baez defeated Thiem 6-2, 6-7 (5), 6-4 to advance to the Bastad semifinal.
Thiem, who returned from a lengthy injury hiatus in late March, is just 2-7 at the main level since his return. Baez squandered a match point on Thiem’s serve in the 10th game of the second set, but broke the Austrian’s serve midway through the third set and then held serve for the rest of the match to earn a three-set victory.
“It’s been a very tough match. So close,” Baez said in his on-court interview, according to the ATP website. “Dominic played well today and I hope to see more of him because he is a great player so I hope he can get back to the level we know.
I am happy to have won today and to continue in the tournament. I think we both played well today, I enjoyed the fight. The tournament and the facilities are good, so I’m happy to still be here. People are very nice, I feel comfortable.
Now I have to recover as best as possible.” Báez next plays Rublev, who defeated Laslo Djere in the quarterfinals. In the second semifinal, Pablo Carreño Busta will face Francisco Cerúndolo. Carreño Busta was absolutely ruthless on Friday as he defeated Diego Schwartzman 6-1, 6-0.
“I’ve played my game of the season,” Carreno Busta said in his on-field interview. “I was very focused the whole time, on every point. Over the years, we have seen many intense rivalries in tennis. From Martina Navratilova vs Chris Evert to Serena Williams vs Venus Williams, these rivalries have made the sport more enticing to watch.
Amongst them was the rivalry between Novak Djokovic and Rafael Nadal.
Rafa Nadal is a tennis legend
Leading Spanish filmmaker and actor Santiago Segura recently joined the chorus of well-wishers for the Spanish tennis legend.
“I did not know that Rafael Nadal was going to be a father but then he is a future spectator of ‘Padre no hay más que uno 3’ I wish Rafa Nadal that he is less injured in fatherhood than in tennis and that he takes it with joy,” Segura said.
“I think he will be a great father. In the end, we all screw up as parents, but there is something that cures everything, which is love and doing everything with good intentions.”
