2024-01-16 10:37:18

After Dominic Thiem, there was no happy ending for Sebastian Ofner in a five-set thriller at the Australian Open. The world number 37. lost on Tuesday in his premiere in the main competition of the first tennis Grand Slam tournament of the year to local hero Thanasi Kokkinakis following 4:18 hours with 6:7(1),6:2,7:6(4),1:6, 8:10. Thiem had already lost out to Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime on Monday. Austria is therefore no longer represented individually.

Ofner had previously failed to qualify for Melbourne five times. This time the 27-year-old was qualified for round one due to his advance in the ranking to position 37. That’s why on paper he was the favorite going into the first encounter with the world number 80, but just mightn’t do justice to that in the John Cain Arena. He will therefore not be able to maintain his best position so far in the world rankings. From a financial perspective, the 73,000 euros for each first-round loser is a certain consolation.

Ofner had expected a “tough” match once morest his 27-year-old opponent and that was the case. Already in the first sentence the two actors met each other on equal terms. Ofner was able to fend off three break points when the score was 1:2, but on the other hand the Australian also destroyed an opportunity for the ÖTV player at 3:3. It then went to a tiebreak, in which Ofner had a break-in. No first serves in the field, many unforced errors – a clear 1:7 was the punishment following almost exactly an hour.

However, it was only a short period of weakness. The Styrian made the first break in the game to make it 4:2. He then increased the score to 5:2 following a break chance was fended off and also used his second set point following only 38 minutes to make it 6:2. Set three was once once more characterized by strong service performances. At 5:5 and 0:30, Ofner pulled his head out of the loop once more with four points in a row and laid the foundation for another tiebreak. This time the Austrian shone with a strong, powerful game and took a two-set lead with 7:4. As in the first set, the game lasted 59 minutes.

In the fourth round, Ofner broke his neck with an early break that made it 0-2. Nothing was going well in his game, and touring coach Stefan Rettl’s attempts to cheer him on didn’t help either. Kokkinakis forced a fifth set following just 29 minutes. There Ofner only came close to a break on a narrow point when the score was 2:1 and 30:30, but on the other hand he was safe on his serve. Therefore, a match tiebreak had to bring the decision.

Ofner scored the first point, but mostly had to run behind. The decisive phase was with a lead of 7:6, when a slight backhand error by Ofner enabled the Australian to make it 7:7. Full risk on the second serve and then another slight backhand error by the ÖTV player paved the way to success for Kokkinakis, who served 26 aces (note: Ofner 15). After more than four hours, he scored his second match point, much to the delight of the home crowd, who loudly encouraged the local hero.

Ofner, as a more active player for a long time, was not rewarded for his performance. At 77:43 he hit almost twice as many winners as his counterpart, but at 61:32 he also made significantly more unforced errors. Ofner lost a Grand Slam five-set match for the first time in his career. He had previously been successful in the 2nd round of Wimbledon in 2017 and in the 3rd round of Paris in 2023.

Nothing will be the same with a meeting with Grigor Dimitrov. The Bulgarian, seeded number 13, can compete with Kokkinakis in the second round following his 4:6.6:3.7:6(1),6:2 victory over the Hungarian Marton Fucsovics.

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