Cobolli moves past Baez to claim first ATP Tour title in Bucharest

Flavio Cobolli completed a remarkable turnaround week in his difficult 2025 season to claim his first ATP Tour title on Sunday at the Tiriac Open presented by UniCredit Bank.

The Italian required seven championship points but on Sunday downed Sebastian Baez 6-4, 6-4 to complete a dream title run at the clay-court ATP 250 in Bucharest.

Cobolli prevailed in a big-hitting baseline battle with top seed Baez, played out in cold, damp conditions, after one hour, 46 minutes.

Lifting his maiden tour-level trophy in Bucharest marks a stunning turnaround in fortunes for Cobolli, who arrived in the Romanian capital on an eight-match tour-level losing streak. He dropped his first set of the week to Richard Gasquet but did not lose another en route to becoming the first Italian titlist in event history.

“I feel great. I feel happy. It’s a big dream come true for my career,” said the 22-year-old Cobolli. “I always dreamed of winning an ATP tournament and it has happened today. I’m really happy to be here and to have reached my best result ever. I came from a tough moment. I had not won a match, before this tournament, this year, and I won the tournament. So I’m really happy about it.”

Cobolli completed his victory having won 74 per cent (23/31) of points behind his first serve, according to Infosys ATP Stats, compared to just 53 per cent (33/62) for Baez. Aside from his late struggles to close out the match, the Italian appeared a confident, rejuvenated player in his second ATP Tour title match (after 2024 Washington).

“To play against Seb on the clay is always tough,” reflected Cobolli. “For me he is one of the best on clay right now. He already won many titles on it, so it’s a great fight and a great day for me.”

Following his title run, Cobolli will on Monday rise nine spots to No. 36 in the PIF ATP Rankings, six places shy of his career high. He is the fifth first-time champion on the ATP Tour this season, joining Alexandre Muller (Hong Kong), Joao Fonseca (Buenos Aires), Tomas Machac (Acapulco) and Jakub Mensik (Miami).

Despite Sunday’s defeat, Baez can reflect on another deep run on clay in 2025. The Argentine won an ATP 500 title in Rio de Janeiro in February, when he also reached the final in Santiago. He has won seven of his eight ATP Tour trophies on clay and has won more tour-level matches (79) on the surface since the start of the 2022 season than any other player.