Photo credit: Buda Mendes/Getty
Down a set, Sebastian Baez dug out a decisive comeback on Rio's red clay.
Defending champion Baez on 12 of the last 14 games defeating fellow Argentinean Camilo Ugo Carabelli 3-6, 6-1, 6-1 to power into his second straight Rio Open.
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It is Baez's ninth straight Rio victory and puts him one win away from becoming the first man in tournament history to successfully defend the title.
The Buenos Aires-born baseliner will play for his seventh career title and the $448,090 champion's check tomorrow.
He's already the third player to reach multiple Rio finals, along with Diego Schwartzman and Carlos Alcaraz. Not bad company.
Baez, who owns a 6-2 career finals record, will face Frenchman Alexandre Muller for the title.
Muller fought off 86th-ranked compatriot Francisco Comesana, 7-5, 6-7(3), 6-3 in a two hour, 55-minute second semifinal.
Comesana rallied from 1-4 down in the final set to shock top-seeded Alexander Zverev 4-6, 6-3, 6-4 in Friday's quarterfinals.
In tonight's second semifinal, Comesana was serving at 4-all in the second set when he flipped over the net chasing Muller drop shot slathered with so much spin it bounded back on the Frenchman's side.
Comesana crashed over the net and Rio fans gave both man a rousing ovation for their efforts. Comesana continued to play and pulled out the second-set tiebreaker
But he couldn't keep Muller from becoming the first Frenchman to reach the Rio final, and the second ATP player to make it to multiple ATP finals in 2025. Muller, who improved to 9-2 on the season with his win over Comesana, also won the title in Hong Kong in January, where he defeated Kei Nishikori in the final.