Out at Wimbledon

LIVE: Strong forehand, good serves from Ofner

Sebastian Ofner(Bild: EPA/ADAM VAUGHAN)

Austria is no longer represented in the singles competition at Wimbledon! On Wednesday, Sebastian Ofner lost to Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz in the second round of the Grand Slam tournament after 1 hour and 57 minutes, 6-7(8), 4-6, 4-6. Ofner, who was eliminated in the third round last year, had two set points in the first set. As a result, Ofner will drop at least twelve spots in the rankings and fall back to No. 122.

“It’s really tough against a player like Hurkacz, especially when he’s serving well. You feel the pressure on your own service game not to give it up,” Ofner explained afterward. Hurkacz served really well. “I had a bit of trouble reading his serves on the return.”

Sebastian Ofner(Bild: AP/Brian Inganga)

High-level first set
The first set featured top-class grass-court tennis—mostly very short rallies, dominant servers, and a Sebastian Ofner who repeatedly had strong spells with his forehand. The Styrian was untouchable on his own serve for a long time, and at 4–4 he even had four break points. Hurkacz, however, fended them off strongly. This led to the inevitable tiebreak, in which the Pole played more aggressively and came to the net more often. Nevertheless, Ofner had two set points at 6–5 and 8–7, but it was Hurkacz who capitalized on his second chance to win 10–8 after 50 minutes.

“The first set was a shame, of course—it was played at a very high level,” Ofner summed up. The narrow loss of the set took some of the wind out of his sails, though, and Hurkacz pulled ahead 4–1 thanks to two breaks. “That cost me a bit in terms of concentration.” At 1–1, one game didn’t go so well, and then he briefly lost his edge, Ofner hinted. Austria’s number one managed a break back and saved a set point at 3–5, but after 85 minutes, Hurkacz served out the set 6–4. In the third set, the ÖTV Davis Cup player continued to hold his own, but with the break to make it 5-4, Hurkacz had the match in the bag. The Pole served out the match confidently.

Hubert Hurkacz(Bild: AP/Brian Inganga)

Return to the Top 100 Is the Next Goal
Ofner will now once again try to make his return to the Top 100 as quickly as possible. “I believe I’ve put myself in a very good position because now I have more or less nothing left to defend until the end of the year,” explained Wolfgang Thiem’s protégé. However, it will be too close for direct qualification for the US Open. “I only have two more tournaments left: a Challenger in Germany next week (Braunschweig, ed.) and probably Baastad, where I’d need to earn 150 points or more.” Of course, Kitzbühel is also on the schedule: “It’s always special to play at home. The field this year is incredibly strong for a 250-level tournament.”