Sebastian Baez eases into second round on busy day in Bucharest | ATP Tour

Bucharest

Bez Breeze, Morcan and Sacramento earn two wins each in a busy day in Bucharest

Seeded players Navone and Van de Zandschulp advance to ATP 250

March 31, 2026

After the Bucharest skies finally cleared at the Tiriac Open presented by UniCredit, Sebastian Baez got down to business.

Baez was in fine form during Tuesday’s ATP 250 clay-court event as persistent rain delayed the start of the main draw in the Romanian capital by a day. The fifth-seeded Argentine reached the final in Bucharest a year ago, defeating Vilius Gaubas 6-3, 6-1 in just 80 minutes.

Baez’s Clinic🫡

Last year’s finalist opened his Bucharest tour with a dominant 6-1, 6-3 win over Gaubas #TiriacOpen2026 pic.twitter.com/NSq6PvwnUi

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 31, 2026

“I’m excited to come back and be at this ballpark, I have some great memories here, but some not the best,” Baez said. “Anyway, I love playing here with the crowd and of course I’m happy with my level today. I know him. It’s our first time playing but he’s a good player with a great future so I wish him all the best and of course I’m happy to get to the next round.”

Baez saved all five break points he faced in his first Lexus ATP head-to-head match against 21-year-old Lithuanian Gobas. The 50th-ranked player in the PIF ATP rankings will next face Frenchman Titouan Droguet, who defeated top ten star Roberto Bautista Agut 6-1, 1-6, 6-1.

After Damir Dzumhur and Filip Cristian Jianu staged a two-hour, 41-minute thriller at Center Court, Baez and Gaubas had to wait a little longer.

Home wild card player Janu, ranked 246th in the world, threatened to reverse in the final set, but his movements were severely hampered by cramps. He came back from 0-3 and entered the service game with a score of 6-5, but Zumhur served at the last moment and finally won 6-3, 4-6, 7-6(4) and booked a second-round match with fourth seed Nuno Borges.

Meanwhile, Alex Molcan and Stefanos Sakellaridis enjoyed a double victory on Tuesday, each completing a rain-delayed final qualifying round before claiming a main draw victory.

Morken led Jay Clark 4-1 overnight and saved a match point, eventually winning 6-3, 5-7, 7-6(4) and advancing to the main draw. The former Top 50 star then returned to the court in the evening, defeating Matteo Arnaldi 6-3, 6-1 in the first round. Molkan will make his debut in Bucharest this year and will next face top seed Gabriel Diallo.

Sakraidis led 5-2 overnight in his final qualifying match against Dimitar Kuzmanov, winning 6-3, 7-6(6) before easing past Jan Choinsky to advance to the second round. The Greek’s 6-3, 6-4 win over Choinski was his first tour-level victory outside of Davis Cup competition, as he defeated 18-year-old Zizou Bergs, ranked 803, at the 2023 Fed Cup.

Third seed Fabian Marozsan will be Sakraidis’ next opponent in Bucharest, with seventh seed Mariano Navone, eighth seed Botik van der Zandschulp and Alexander Shevchenko the other winners of 12 first-round matches on Tuesday’s schedule. Navone defeated Christopher O’Connell 6-4, 7-6(8), Van de Zandschulp defeated Francesco Mastrelli 6-3, 6-2, and Shevchenko defeated wild card player Radu David Turkanu 6-2, 6-4.