Sebastián Báez the Hero of Argentina’s Davis Cup Victory

Credit: Lautaro Miranda

In a dramatic definition, Argentina defeated Kazakhstan in the fifth point of the series and advanced to the Davis Cup Finals to be played next September. The hero of the day was Sebastián Báez, who beat Dmitry Popko 6-4, 3-6 and 7-6 (8-6) in a tight finish and gave the necessary victory to the team captained by Guillermo Coria in Rosario.

It was an eternal day on Sunday for all those who came to the Jockey Club located in the Fisherton neighborhood and all those tennis fans who followed the duel on TV. It is that after Saturday’s action left the series level (Francisco Cerúndolo defeated Popko 7-5 and 6-2, while Tomás Etcheverry fell to Timofey Skatov 6-4/7-5), the second day of activity in The city of Santa Fe had twists and turns in the result.

After the victory of the doubles composed of Andrés Molteni and Máximo González that put Argentina in front (6-7, 6-4 and 6-0 against the duo Aleksander Nedovyesov and Popko), the one who had the classification in his hands was Cerúndolo , but the best racket in the country according to the ATP ranking (22nd) could not close the series and lost in two sets against Timofey Skatov 7-6 (1) and 6-4.

That’s when Seba Báez entered the scene. The tennis player ranked 25th on the professional circuit battled to beat a surprising Pokpo and earned the biggest ovation of the weekend in Rosario. Beyond her performance on clay, late at night, an image of the Billinghurst native went viral on social media.

Journalist Lautaro Miranda uploaded a photo of Baéz at a service station to his X account (formerly Twitter). The 23-year-old young racket player, who competed in the Youth Olympic Games in Buenos Aires 2018 and from there built his career that today is going through a great present, can be seen dressed in training clothes from the brand that saw him doing the queue to buy a drink.

Sebastián Báez was the hero of Argentina’s classification in the Davis Cup (AAT)Taveira, Fernando Esteban

“The hero of the day standing in line at the gas station to pay for his tonic water. An idol Sebita Báez,” wrote Miranda, who manages the Pelotas Nuevas YouTube channel.

Quickly, the postcard went viral and there was no shortage of comments to greet Báez, key in the Argentine team’s passage to the round in Davis. “The guy has 10 green sticks in the bank, he was the hero of Argentine tennis today and he gets out of the car and waits in line like any person at a gas station. Crack,” explained user Rolito Giglio. For his part, another wrote: “It’s incredible because the skinny guy in front, who has never seen tennis in his life, must be watching the summary of the match on the YPF screen,” said another user in relation to the fact that the man who was ahead in the checkout line was apparently watching a TV in the place.

Once the victory was consummated in his favor, Báez spoke in front of the TyC Sports cameras. “Tennis is like that. As the theme says: don’t try to understand. And more in the Davis Cup. Many things are experienced. But hey, happy to have carried out a game like this. “It was in difficult conditions,” he said.

And he added: “It was a triumph for the entire team because we all made a great effort and left everything on the field, I am happy to have collaborated with my grain of sand. It was a very difficult victory, with all the heat, but you work for this. It’s very nice to win a game here with your friends and teammates, that’s why I thank the people of Rosario for their great support.”

Thanks to its victory, which gave the team qualification, Argentina is already among the best 16 teams in the Davis Cup 2024. The group stage of the Finals will be played from September 10 to 15, a date to be confirmed. The four host cities of these zones still remain to be known (they will be announced at the end of February), pending the draw, which will be held in March.

2024-02-05 10:31:00
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