As the Rio Open 2024 moves along to the quarter-final stage, Thiago Monteiro vs Sebastian Baez will be the match to look out for. Drawing a classic Brazil-Argentina rivalry, albeit in tennis, Monteiro and Baez will both be looking for their maiden ATP 500 Tour title. Although Baez has won an ATP 250 series title, the Rio Open must be special for him. The Rio Open 2024 has especially opened up after the early exits of Carlos Alcaraz, which gave Monteiro a walkover, and is now potentially anybody’s to win.
The Thiago Monteiro vs Sebastian Baez match will take place on the outdoor clay courts of the Quadra Guga Kuerten Tennis Court in Rio. They will play their match from 4:30 pm local time (2.30 PM ET) on 23rd February i.e. Friday.
Thiago Monteiro defeated Felipe Alves 7-5, 6-3 in the second round of the Rio Open, proving The SportsRush prediction correct. Monteiro doubled down on the confidence boost he received after Alcaraz got injured and was out of the tournament. Now, the 29-year-old Brazilian will eye for his maiden ATP title.
Monteiro, who has won two Masters 1000 matches before, one against Jason Kubler by 6-4, 7-6 (8-6) at Miami Open 2023, and the other against Borna Gojo by 7-6 (11-9), 4-6, 6-3 at Mutua Madrid Open 2023, has never had a better chance to win a title.
Sebastian Baez, on the other hand, defeated Facundo Diaz Acosta 7-6 (7-1), 6-3 in the second round. Before that, he defeated Corentin Moutet of France by 6-4, 6-3. Baez reached the third round of the Australian Open this year and the US Open last year. These were his two best Grand Slam performances.
Unlike Monteiro, Baez won 4 ATP titles in his career – The 2022 Estoril Open, The 2023 Cordoba Open, The 2023 Austrian Open Kitzbuhel, and the 2023 Winston Salem Open. All of these are ATP 250 series, part of the ATP Tour. This time he has a golden opportunity of winning his first ATP 500 event.
Sebastian Baez ranks 30, which is significantly better than Thiago Monteiro’s ranking of 119. Therefore, considering all fronts, The SportsRush predicts Thiago Monteiro to win the Thiago Monteiro vs Sebastian Baez contest.
What does history tell us about Thiago Monteiro vs Sebastian Baez?
Thiago Monteiro vs Sebastian Baez has happened four times in the past. The first time was at the 2021 Buenos Aries Challenger, where Baez won 6-4, 6-0. It was a brutal thrashing to Monteiro.
Next time, they met at Campinas Challenger a month later, where Baez once again gave Monteiro a thrashing of 6-1, 6-4. Monteiro won their next encounter at the 2022 Rio Open by 1-6, 6-4, 6-4. The last time they met was at the 2022 Chile Dove Men+Care Open in Santiago. Baez won once again by 7-5, 3-6, 6-4 in here. Overall, Baez has a 3-1 lead over Monteiro in head-to-head.
As per BetMGM Sportsbook, the odds of Sebastian Baez winning the match are higher at -240. Conversely, the odds for Thiago Monteiro are +180. The match will stream live on Tennis Channel for the US audience and on Sky Sports for the UK audience. The temperature in Rio this afternoon is moderately higher at 30 degrees Celsius. The wind speed is 10 km/h and the humidity is 77% with no chance of rainfall. It should be an entertaining match.
