Sebastian Baez continued his quest to become the first two-time titlist at the Rio Open presented by Claro by returning to the final.
The defending champion at the ATP 500 averted a scare from lucky loser Camilo Ugo Carabelli to triumph 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 on Saturday evening. Baez produced an emphatic response to letting slip a break lead to lose the opener, winning 12 of the next 14 games to advance to his ninth ATP Tour final.
“I’m so proud, because the last weeks were a little tough for me,” said Baez, who entered the tournament with just one tour-level win in 2025. “I didn’t feel very well this week, so I am happy to [have] recovered my body, my mind, my tennis… I’m so happy to be in a new final here in Rio, it’s so special.
“It’s always difficult to play some guys you have known since we were kids. He [Ugo Carabelli] is doing a very good job, so congrats to him and to his team. I’m happy with my level today, this week.”
Back-✌️-back Baez 😎
— ATP Tour (@atptour) February 22, 2025
Reigning champion @sebaabaez7 returns to the silverware showdown @RioOpenOficial | #RioOpen pic.twitter.com/XK4u2t6oIR
Ugo Carabelli, who was the eighth lucky loser to make an ATP 500 level semi-final since the series' introduction (2009), made a red-hot start in his bid to reach a maiden tour-level final. Yet the Argentine was unable to contain Baez, who reasserted his dominance in the encounter, drastically reducing his unforced error count from 15 to five between the opening two sets. In the decider, the Argentine opened up on return and expertly displayed his all-court prowess, finishing with 26 winners, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
By advancing to his second consecutive title tilt in Rio, Baez is just the third player to reach multiple finals in tournament history after Diego Schwartzman and Carlos Alcaraz. In Sunday’s championship match, the 24-year-old will face Alexandre Muller.
With his run to the semi-finals in Rio, Ugo Carabelli is guaranteed to reach a career high on Monday as he is up to No. 69 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings. After defeating his countryman in back-to-back weeks, Baez now leads Ugo Carabelli 2-0 in their Lexus ATP Head2Head series.
Muller advanced to his first ATP 500 final with a 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-3 victory against Francisco Comesana, who bowed out after his fourth three-setter of the week. Now 3-0 in tour-level semi-finals, the 28-year-old Muller is the first Frenchman to reach the Rio title round.
After winning his first ATP Tour title this January in Hong Kong, Muller had not picked up another tour-level victory until his four this week. He has beaten an Argentine in each of his past three matches — including upsets of eighth seed Tomas Martin Etcheverry and fourth seed Francisco Cerundolo — and now holds a 15-1 record in his past 16 encounters with Argentine opposition across all levels (10-0 on clay). Prior to that, Muller earned a first-round win against #NextGenATP Brazilian Joao Fonseca, who was among the crowd Saturday night in his home nation.
In an entertaining semi-final full of shotmaking, one point will live longest in the memory. Late in the second set, Muller sent his opponent crashing into the net with a devilish drop volley that spun back onto his side. Comesana recovered from his spill to force a deciding set, becoming the first man to win a set against Muller this week.
After both men missed out on a break point early in the third, Muller rattled off the final three games of the match from 3-3. As the two-hour, 55-minute match wore on, Comesana's lengthy road to the semi-final appeared to take its toll as Muller dictated play.
Sunday's final will begin at 5:30 p.m. local time, 8:30 p.m. GMT.
