Sebastian Baez defeats Ben Shelton to both reach Auckland final | ATP Tour
Auckland
Baez defeats Shelton in doubles to advance to Oakland finals
After Thursday’s rain, Mencic earned two wins on Friday to advance to the championship game
January 16, 2026
Getty Images
Sebastian Baez advanced to his 12th tour final in Auckland on Friday.
Sam Jacott
Can anyone stop Sebastian Baez in 2026? The Argentinian maintained his perfect start to the new season at the ASB Classic on Friday, reaching both finals in Auckland.
After the match was suspended due to heavy rain on Thursday, Baez returned to the court to face top seed Ben Shelton, leading 7-5, 0-1. After the rematch, the 25-year-old broke the world No. 8’s serve again before mustering the courage to claim his third top-10 win and second of the season, beating Taylor Fritz at the Fed Cup last week.
Baez returned to the court shortly after and defeated Marcos Guillon 6-1, 6-4 to improve his 2026 record to 7-0. Baez now leads Team USA 3-0 in the two-person Lexus ATP Head2Head series and has moved up three spots to No. 36 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.
Entering his 12th tour final, Baez will face third seed Jakub Mencic in the final for his eighth title and second on hard courts.
Mencic also pulled double duty in Friday’s ATP 250 event, advancing to his third ATP Tour Championship and first since defeating Novak Djokovic in a title showdown in Miami last March.
According to Infosys ATP statistics, the 20-year-old Czech player defeated French big serve Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard 6-4, 6-2 to break the world ranking of 63rd five times. Mencic then defeated Fabian Marossan in the semifinals, who defeated Elliot Spitzri 6-4, 2-6, 6-2 in the quarterfinals that were postponed earlier on Friday.
In a fierce confrontation, Mensik defeated Hungary’s Marozsan 7-6(9), 4-6, 6-1 and saved five set points in the first set tie-break. Mencic, ranked 18th in the world, hopes to become the first Czech player to lift the trophy at the event since Jiri Vesely in 2015.
