Early exit on grass

Ofner optimistic despite defeat against Draper

Sebastian Ofner's transition from clay to grass was not a success. The Styrian tennis pro was beaten 6:7(4),6:7(5) by the sixth seeded Brit Jack Draper at the ATP 250 tournament in Stuttgart on Monday. Ofner nevertheless spoke of a "good first match on grass against a difficult opponent".

The 28-year-old had his chance against the six years younger Draper in the match on Center Court after losing the first set in the second. Austria's currently best tennis pro got a break to 3:2 and served for the set at 5:4. However, Draper was able to equalize and the match went into another tie-break. Ofner fended off two more match points from his opponent before the match ended after 1:39 hours.

The first match on grass is never easy

Sebastian Ofner

"The first match on grass is never easy, especially against a left-hander who serves like that. It was really difficult for me at the beginning. I had a chance in the second set. But that can happen," said Ofner. In the tie-break, Draper scored the points he needed with his serve and won the first ever duel between the two professionals on the tour.

Sinner leads the rankings
Ofner, who advanced to the 3rd round at the French Open, dropped seven places in the world rankings to 52nd. Dominic Thiem is now the second-best Austrian in 134th place (minus three), while Filip Misolic moved up 56 places to 187th after reaching the 2nd round in Paris.

South Tyrolean Jannik Sinner is ahead for the first time in his career, French Open winner Carlos Alcaraz is now second in the ATP rankings ahead of Novak Djokovic. Polish Paris winner Iga Swiatek continues to lead the women's rankings, while American Coco Gauff has overtaken Belarusian Aryna Sabalenka in second place.