Sebastián Báez defeated his compatriot Camilo Ugo Carabelli in the quarterfinals of the Argentina Open in straight sets, 7-6(5) and 6-2, and qualified for the semifinals in Buenos Aires for the first time.For a place in the final he will face the Italian-Argentine Luciano Darderi this Saturday from 6:00 p.m., broadcast by TyC Sports.
Báez, second best national racket and current 34th in the world ranking, extends her dream season.At the beginning of 2026, he traveled to Oceania with the hope that the work done to alleviate the pain in his knee, an annoyance with which he had lived in recent years, would finally allow him to compete normally.“The last two years I had a knee injury and it was difficult for me to get up to train,” acknowledged the Buenos Aires native, in a slow tone, at a press conference at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.
With renewed energy, the 25-year-old tennis player had a solid start to the season: he has accumulated 10 wins and just 2 losses so far this year.Two of those victories were against Top 10 players, the Americans TaylorFritz (6th) and Ben Shelton (8th).He also reached the final in the Auckland competition and became the second player to reach ten victories this year, after the Kazakh Alexander Bublik.
After sealing his place among the four best in the competition, Báez valued the triumph against a rival he has known for years.”I am happy for reaching the semifinals and for having carried out today’s match. With Camilo (UgoCarabelli) we have known each other very well for many years, we have played several times and he has been doing very well. I congratulate him for last week, for having reached the quarterfinals and for his level.”
The man from Buenos Aires also analyzed the development of the match and highlighted the positive aspects of his performance.”I’m happy because in several moments of the match I was able to play my game well. He also raised his level in the first set and it was very even. I have to continue drawing conclusions from what happened today and yesterday, continue improving things to be as prepared as possible and enjoy the fact that people are supporting me a lot.”
Finally, he referred to the presence of Gabriela Sabatini in one of the boxes at the Buenos Aires Lawn Tennis Club.”I’m very happy that she comes to watch the games. She’s a genius, it’s a privilege that she accompanies us and that she’s with us, and obviously that she watches my game. Today, when I saw her, I got a little nervous, but I was able to handle it.”
It should be noted that, after 17 years, three Argentines once again reached the Buenos Aires ATP semi-finals, something that has not happened since 2009, when Juan Mónaco, José Acasuso and David Nalbandian achieved it.In that edition, the champion was the Spanish Tommy Robredo.
The Argentine’s next rival will be the tennis player born in Villa Gesell, LucianoDarderi, who has competed for Italy since he was 12 years old, who comes from a solid performance in the quarterfinals after beating the Spanish PedroMartínez in straight sets 7-5 and 6-1.
At the close of the match, Darderi, who reached 16 consecutive matches won on clay between the ATP Tour and Challenger circuit, said: “I hope to win tomorrow to celebrate the final on my birthday. It is the first time I have played at night here. Pedro (Martínez) started very well and I was a bit nervous, but in the second set I was able to let go and play some great tennis. I am very happy with how I finished the match.”
And he stated: “The truth is that it was a great start to the year, especially on cement. It was not my surface, but I am playing very well there. Now I have to adapt to clay again because there are many tournaments coming up on this surface. It is my strength, I feel very confident here and we have to try to do my best.”
Regarding the semifinal match, the Italian-Argentine said: “I have a lot of respect for Seba (Báez) who has several titles in clay, it is going to be a hard-fought match, I will try to do my best to get it through.”
