Rio De Janeiro, Feb. 24 -- Argentina's Sebastian Baez became the first back-to-back Rio Open champion by cruising to a 6-2, 6-3 victory over France's Alexandre Muller in the final of South America's biggest tournament.
The fifth seed struck 26 winners and broke Muller's serve five times to take the match in an hour and 27 minutes on the outdoor clay of the Jockey Club Brasileiro on Sunday.
"I'm so proud of the whole week," Baez said after the match. "I'm so happy with every match I played." "Of course finals are different because you want to win the tournament. I try to focus on the match and that is the most difficult part in finals, but the support from my coach and the team was important in helping me to keep my focus."
It marked t...