Sebastian Baez (ATP 19) and David Goffin (114) lit up Whitsun in front of another sell-out crowd to go with Saturday’s, further proof that the 2024 Gonet Geneva Open is the place to be this week.
An ATP 500 winner in Rio and ATP 250 champion in Santiago already this year, Sebastian Baez (in the photo) showed on his first outing at the Parc des Eaux-Vives why he is Argentina’s No. 1. Taking on India’s Sumit Nagal (93 in the ATP Tour Ranking) in the round of 32, he overcame a sticky start to the match to win 7-6 (9-7) 6-3. With a quarter-final against Casper Ruud potentially in the offing, Baez will now face Roberto Carballes Baena (62) in the last 16. The Spaniard beat Daniel Altmaier (78) 7-6 (7-2) 6-4 in the day’s second match in the main round.
David Goffin did not hang around in his qualifier on Court 2, the Belgian taking only 51 minutes to make sure of his place in the main draw with a comprehensive 6-1 6-0 win over Gijs Brouwer of the Netherlands (241). Having arrived from Turin on Friday night, the 33-year-old Goffin is not about to call time on his wonderful career just yet. Now recovered from a neck injury, the 2017 ATP World Tour Finals runner-up is intent on having a good year. And there seems no reason why he cannot make a positive start to it at the Gonet Geneva Open, where his first-round opponent will be another qualifier in Nicolas Moreno De Alboran of the USA (136).
