Djere denies defending champ Baez to win Santiago title

Laslo Djere won his third tour-level title Sunday at the Movistar Chile Open, denying third seed Sebastian Baez's bid to retain the Santiago title and win a trophy for the second straight week.

The Serbian claimed his first title since 2020 with a 6-4, 3-6, 7-5 victory Sunday, earning his 150th tour-level singles win in the process. On Monday the former World No. 27 will return to the Top 100 in the PIF ATP Rankings, moving up 29 places to No. 74. At World No. 103 this week, Djere is the first player outside the Top 100 to win a title this year.

𝐈 𝐃 𝐄 𝐌 𝐎! 🇷🇸

Djere is your @chile_open 2025 champion! 🏆#MovistarChileOpen pic.twitter.com/9ikm9cruY5

— ATP Tour (@atptour) March 3, 2025

In a dramatic final, Djere and Baez traded four consecutive breaks of serve from 3-2 in the final set, with Djere failing to serve out the match at 5-3. After Baez held to love for 5-5, Djere won eight of the final 10 points to clinch victory, breaking to love in the last game.

Djere's strong 70 per cent (37/53) first-serve win rate helped him overcome eight double faults. He saved six of 10 break points in the two-hour, 25-minute match, according to Infosys ATP Stats.

By picking up his first Lexus ATP Head2Head win in three tries against Baez, Djere tied Viktor Troicki for third-most tour-level titles among Serbians, trailing only Novak Djokovic (99) and Janko Tipsarevic (4). His 150 tour-level singles wins are sixth most among Serbians.

Djere battled through three consecutive three-setters in as many days to claim the trophy, beating Jaime Faria in the quarter-finals and top seed Francisco Cerundolo in the semis.

Baez, who won the Rio de Janeiro title last week, saw his eight-match winning streak snapped in the final. The ATP Tour's leader in clay-court wins since the start of 2022 (76-37), Baez notched his 100th tour-level singles win by beating fellow Argentine Camilo Ugo Carabelli in the semi-finals.