Sebastian Baez takes down Dominic Thiem for the Bastad semifinal

Sebastian Baez proved once more he is a very strong clay player by beating Dominic Thiem in three sets 6-2 6-7(5) 6-4.

Baez played another wonderful match although it was not a perfect match obviously. Thiem has shown the highest level so far since his comeback and it took some work to get rid of him. The opening set was brilliant by Baez who dominated play with his strong forehand. The Argentine found himself up 6-2 rather quickly but he was unable to continue at that high level.

Thiem came out with a better level and the errors crept into his game of. It was evident quite early in the 2nd set as he faced a 0-40 that he was able to save. Eventually, he did drop his serve but battled right back to make it 3-3. From there he kept up the pressure even forcing a match point at 5-4.

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Thiem was able to save that one and actually outplay Baez down the stretch winning the 2nd set in the tiebreak 7-5. His serve greatly helped him out during that part of the match with a couple of free points. The final set did not start well for Thiem who had to save a couple of break points in the first game. After doing so successfully he tried to keep up with Baez but the intensity was too high.

The Argentine was able to wait for a poor game from Thiem and he got it at 2-2. From there he was able to hold his serve without any issues only facing one break point along the way. A great win for Baez and a very solid outing for Thiem.