ATP Barcelona: Arnaldi’s Catalan adventure continues, who wins in a comeback with Baez

The Italian tennis player managed to get through the second round in Catalonia by beating the Argentine Baez in three sets.

On the day of Rafa Nadal’s return to the field, Matteo Arnaldi was awaited by a complicated match against the Argentine Sabastian Baez, number 19 in the ATP ranking.

Great performance from the world number 40, who came back to set the result at 5-7, 7-6, 6-2 after a match that lasted almost three hours.

The blue tennis player entered the court well and managed to hold out until 3-3 against a clay specialist who, at the first acceleration, however, managed to get the first break of the match (seventh game).

The Ligurian tennis player, however, did not give up, obtaining the counterbreak and bringing the most popular up to 5-5 before giving up his serve again. And this time Baez collected the gift by closing the first set at 7-5.

Once the first set was over, Arnaldi returned to the court convinced that he could sell his life dearly. Proof of this was the break won in the second game. The Argentine, however, left the Italian scoreless in the next game.

The favor was returned by Arnaldi, who managed to get the second consecutive break and attempt a comeback at 4-1, but his efforts were wasted at the seventh and ninth breaks, when, after raising the intensity, Baez managed to get back ahead.

The match was therefore decided in the tenth game, on the Argentine’s serve, with a long battle for the advantages: Arnaldi canceled a match point and at the fifth break point he managed to bring the set back to his, dragging Baez, after confirming the break, to the tie-break.

Once again, the blue confirmed his determination to fight, canceling three more match points from the Argentine and dragging him to the third set.

The sudden reversal of the match made Baez mentally collapse, who felt the blow unlike Arnaldi who, however, continued to improve minute after minute. In the final act of the match, the world number 40 broke his opponent twice, conceding almost nothing on serve, and completed the comeback at 6-2.