Sebastian Baez became the first player to successfully defend the Rio Open presented by Claro title on Sunday when he overcame Frenchman Alexandre Muller 6-2, 6-3 at the ATP 500 in Brazil.
In front of the capacity crowd in Rio de Janeiro, the Argentine produced a relentless display of aggressive, consistent ballstriking against Muller. The 24-year-old pulled the Frenchman from side to side with his accuracy, and he glided around the baseline to track down anything Muller threw at him, raising his arms in delight after sealing victory on his second match point.
With his one-hour, 26-minute win, Baez captured his fourth trophy on South American soil. The fifth seed, who has won his past 10 matches in Rio, is now a seven-time tour-level titlist.
"I am so proud of the whole week," Baez said in his on-court interview. "I am so happy for every match. I did my best and I am so happy. I try to give my best every point.
"Of course the finals are different because you want to win the tournament. I try to focus on the match and that is most difficult part in the finals, but the support from my coach and the team is so important."
Baez has clinched six of his seven crowns on clay, with the exception coming on hard courts in Winston-Salem. Since the start of 2022, Baez has earned 73 wins on clay, the most of anyone on Tour according to the Infosys ATP Win/Loss Index.
Most Clay-Court Wins Since Start of 2022
| Player | W/L | Titles |
| Sebastian Baez | 73-36 | 6 |
| Casper Ruud | 71-22 | 6 |
| Carlos Alcaraz | 69-11 | 7 |
| Alexander Zverev | 63-20 | 2 |
| Francisco Cerundolo | 60-34 | 2 |
The World No. 31 showed why he is such a consistent performer on the surface this week with a series of impressive wins. Baez defeated Roman Andres Burruchaga and Chun-Hsin Tseng in straight sets and battled to three-set victories against Mariano Navone and Camilo Ugo Carabelli. In a dominant display in the final against Muller, Baez struck 26 winners and broke the Frenchman's serve five times, according to Infosys ATP Stats.
Muller was aiming to capture his second tour-level title, having triumphed in Hong Kong earlier this season. The 28-year-old is up 19 spots to No. 41 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings and will rise to a career high on Monday.
Did You Know?
Baez holds a 7-2 record in tour-level finals. He is the third man to successfully defend his 2024 title this season after Jannik Sinner at the Australian Open and Ugo Humbert in Marseille.
