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American tennis star Frances Tiafoe showed his class after the Estoril final as he said that Sebastian Baez deserved to win the title. Tiafoe, seeded at No. 5, stood no chance against Baez as the Argentine claimed a dominant 6-3 6-2 win to win his first ATP title.
"Unbelievable job by Sebastian. He deserved it. He played better than me today," Tiafoe said on court, as quoted on the ATP Tour website. "I just want to thank you guys, honestly. You guys made it an unbelievable week for me. I played some crazy, crazy matches and I hope you guys really enjoyed it.
I tried to give everything I had this week. Unfortunately I didn't have much today, but you guys were unbelievable. I hope I can come back for many years and we can keep putting a show on this court. It's one of my favourite courts to play in."
Tiafoe loses his second Estoril final
Tiafoe made a good start to the match as he took an early 2-0 lead.
Tiafoe had a chance to go up by a double break but he missed out on three break points in the third game. Tiafoe paid the price for failing to secure a double break as Baez claimed breaks in the fourth and six games to win five games in a row and take a 5-2 lead.
Tiafoe served out the eighth game to end Baez's five-game run but it didn't change much as Baez served out for the first set in the ninth game. In the second set, Tiafoe led 2-1 after the opening three games of the set. Tiafoe then shut down in the rest of the match as Baez claimed back-to-back breaks to win five games in a row and seal the title in style.
Tiafoe has now lost two Estoril finals. In 2018, Tiafoe reached the Estoril final before losing to home favorite Joao Sousa.