Sebastian Baez surprises Taylor Fritz at United Cup to score second Top 10 win in 20 attempts

“I’m so happy right now!” Sebastian Baez exclaimed as his beaming face lit up RAC Arena on Saturday evening.

It was an understandable feeling.

Coming into the 2026 season, Baez was just 1-18 against Top 10 opponents. But that went out the window in Perth, as he delivered a notable upset to put the defending United Cup champions on notice.

Trailing Taylor Fritz by a set and a break, Baez battled back to topple the 2024 US Open finalist with a 4-6, 7-5, 6-4 victory. The 25-year-old put history in the past, having dropped his previous five meetings with the American.

Once he dug back into the contest midway through the second set, Baez emerged as the competitor delivering the bigger blows from the baseline. While Fritz served 23 aces, Baez broke him four times.

The world No. 45 fought off a nervy final game to recover from 30-40 and put Argentina ahead 1-0 in the Group E showdown.

"I felt had my chances in the first set. More because on the game from my serve on the four or five, I played so bad because I was too nervous. So I changed that mindset, because I lost many, many matches against him with the same feeling," Baez said in a flash quote

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Before defeating the sixth-ranked Fritz, Baez’s best career win by ranking came against Andrey Rublev—then the world No. 8—in the semifinals of 2022 Bastad. He added to a winning 2026 debut over Jaume Munar, which came a day earlier.

Coco Gauff later bounced back for the top seeds to force a deciding mixed doubles match. The world No. 3 dispatched Solana Sierra, 6-1, 6-1.