The 27-year-old also put in a very strong performance against Roberto Bautista Agut in Hong Kong, defeating the Spaniard in 1:25 hours 6:4,6:4. Ofner reached his previous two semi-finals in Kitzbühel in 2017 and in Astana last October, but in both cases he did not make it to the final. This is what it’s all about on Saturday (7.30 a.m. CET) against the Finn Emil Ruusuvuori.
Ofner once again relied on his excellent serve against Bautista Agut. While he had managed 16 aces in three sets in the round of 16 against the German Jan-Lennard Struff, he now had 21 in just two rounds. In keeping with this, he didn’t allow a single break point from his 35-year-old opponent. In the world rankings, Austria’s current number one will definitely have his best ranking to date among the top 40 on Monday. The live ranking shows him at position 37. If he made it to the final, Ofner would move up one more place.
“Hopefully it continues like this”
“I served very well and I also trained a lot,” said Ofner, highlighting a key feature of his current game in the winner’s interview. “I feel very comfortable here on the court.” Struff’s almost three-hour stress was not a problem. “My physio has treated me and I’m coming out of preparation feeling very good physically. It would be different maybe in the middle or end of the season. Hopefully it continues like this.”
The ÖTV professional, who is currently ranked 43rd, only needed two break points to take Bautista Agut’s first serve game. Because of his service level, half the battle for the first sentence was already in the bag. Before the 35-year-old Iberian could approach the equalizer, Ofner found further break points. After 43 minutes he had the first set in his pocket.
Repeated applause from the scene
The experienced Bautista Agut had a 30-0 bonus twice as a receiver, but Ofner then marched on undeterred to win the game. He not only shone with his service, but also with wonderful passing shots and no fewer than 39 winners. He received applause from the audience several times. He finally managed the decisive break in the second round to make it 3-2, and coach Stefan Rettl’s protégé then served out without any problems.
While it was the first meeting against Bautista Agut, he has already played against the 24-year-old Ruusuvuori in the Davis Cup. The Scandinavian won 6:3,6:4 in Espoo in September 2019. Now Ofner is a certain favorite, also since Ruusuvuori is 26 places behind his opponent in the world rankings as 69th. However, in the round of 16 he had shown a three-set victory over the second-ranked Russian Karen Khachanow. In the quarterfinals, Ruusuvuori lost to the Russian Pavel Kotow 6:3,7:6.
Ofner was relaxed before the duel: “I’ll try to play my game. I’ve already watched him here, he’s playing very well too. I think it’ll be a great match.”
