Wimbledon

Ofner against Vukic – LIVE from approx. 3.30 pm

Sebastian Ofner suffered a bitter defeat on Monday.(Bild: AFP)

A very bitter evening for Sebastian Ofner: The Styrian fought tirelessly, but ultimately failed despite match point in the first round of Wimbledon - 7:6(9), 4:6, 4:6, 6:3, 6:7(8) against Australian Aleksandar Vukic. Austria's number one must therefore continue to wait for his first victory at Wimbledon since 2017. 

The "Krone" reports from Wimbledon

Sebastian Ofner lowered his head, stalked towards the net bitterly disappointed - his great fight at Wimbledon went unrewarded, the Styrian lost to Australian Aleksandar Vukic 7:6, 4:6, 4:6, 6:3, 6:7 after 3:49 hours of play. Ofner thus also misses the second round duel against defending champion Carlos Alcaraz. 

Sebastian Ofner(Bild: AFP)

In the duel between two strong servers, the tie-break was the logical consequence on the tight seventh court - which Ofner won 11:9 to the cheers of his parents Gabi and Hansjörg, having to fend off two set points in the process. Cries of "Austria again and again" could be heard from a few red-white-red fans. But these were not to last long.

Sebastian Ofner(Bild: AFP)

Ofner shakes off his tiredness
Ofner's serve was fading and Austria's only representative in the Wimbledon singles missed several break chances - Vukic said thank you and won the second and third sets. Ofner had his back to the wall and was struggling - but he didn't fall (yet).

Because he once again proved his fighting qualities in windy conditions, shook off his tiredness less than 48 hours after losing the Mallorca final, including a flight echo the following day, and fought back strongly in a match suddenly characterized by losses of serve.

Aleksandar Vukic(Bild: AFP)

Battle of nerves
After winning the fourth set, in which he took Vukic's serve three times in a row, Ofner first took a 2:1 lead in the decider and later a 5:4 lead - a loud cry of joy was the result, the Styrian burst out of his mouth. Even former tennis player Alexander Antonitsch couldn't stay on his seat off the court.

You can read the statistics here:

But it was far from over. Ofner missed a match point on the serve and conceded the break to make it 5:5, giving the match the final it deserved - a match tie-break! In which Ofner was behind at the start, quickly trailing 3:6. And was unable to make up the deficit. After 3:49 hours of play, Ofner hit a volley into the net and his exit was sealed. Ofner then complained in an interview with the "Krone": "I don't know how many close matches I've lost this year - luck hasn't been on my side yet. But I'll keep at it, it will come back to me at some point."