Darderi surges past Baez to set up top-seed showdown with Cerundolo in Buenos Aires
Luciano Darderi won against Sebastian Baez 7-6 (2), 6-1 on Saturday night. He’ll face top seed Francisco Cerundolo in the final
Francisco Cerundolo, Madrid 2025
Image Credit: Zuma / Psnewz
Second seed Luciano Darderi advanced to the final of the IEB + Argentina Open on Saturday with a 7-6(2) 6-1 victory over local favorite Sebastian Baez, setting up a title showdown against top seed Francisco Cerundolo.
Darderi, the world number 22, overcame a spirited start from the fourth-seeded Baez in a high-quality opening set that lasted over an hour in Buenos Aires (ATP 250). After clinching a dominant tiebreak 7-2, the Italian accelerated in the second set, breaking Baez twice to wrap up the match in one hour and 40 minutes.
“The first set was the key. I had to stay very aggressive on the big points because the crowd was pushing Sebastian a lot,” Darderi said in his post-match interview on the Cancha Guillermo Vilas.
Earlier in the day, world number 19 Francisco Cerundolo reached his second consecutive final in Buenos Aires by defeating fellow Argentine Tomas Martin Etcheverry 6-3, 7-5. Cerundolo, who lost the 2025 final to Joao Fonseca, will be looking to become the first home winner of the event since Diego Schwartzman in 2021.
Darderi in the Top 20 ?
Darderi’s path to the final has been clinical, having secured straight-set wins over Spain’s Pedro Martinez Portero and Chile’s Tomas Barrios Vera in the earlier rounds. For Baez, the defeat ends a strong run where he had dismissed camilo Ugo Carabelli and Peru’s Ignacio Buse.
Sunday’s final marks the first time the top two seeds have met in the Buenos Aires title match since 2023. It also carries significant weight for the ATP rankings, as Darderi could break into the top 20 for the first time with a victory.
