Defeated with a strong fighting performance Sebastian Ofner in the first round of the ATP 500 tournament the Australian Christopher O’Connell in three sets.
by Dietmar Kaspar
last edited: October 16, 2023, 7:01 a.m
© GEPA Pictures
After being down one set, Sebastian Ofner fought his way into the second round in Tokyo
The only encounter so far between Sebastian Ofner and Christopher O’Connell before today’s match was not of much use in predicting the outcome. At the Challenger in Atlanta 2021, the man from Graz had to give up in the first set when the score was 2:4, meaning the victory went to the Australian. The Austrian wore his new blonde hairstyle for the first time today, with which he paid off a bet.
After O’Connell’s smooth service game, Ofner had to make his first service game over deuce, but then found the rhythm with his powerful groundstrokes. In the seventh game, the Australian served a double fault when the score was 30:30, then the Graz native forced the error into a break in the rally with a forehand against O’Connell’s run. However, this didn’t last long as the 27-year-old had to give up his serve in the following game after a forehand error in a long rally. After Ofner was unable to take advantage of two chances to break in the ninth game, both players held their service to reach the tie-break. There the Austrian No. 1 had a weak phase when the score was 2:2 and had to give up five points in a row to lose the set.
Ofner also struggled in his first serve game in the second act and had to fend off two break chances from O’Connell, who repeatedly reached for the slice with his one-handed backhand. With no further opportunities to break on both sides, it took until the eighth game before the Austrian was able to create two running chances, but left them unused. When the score was 5:4, Ofner took a set point with a backhand return winner, but had to accept three point wins by the Australian in a row to equalize. The decision was also made in the tie-break in the second set, in which Ofner was quickly behind 1:4. The world number 47 won with five points in a row. two running set balls, of which he was able to use the second.
Buoyed by the set equalizer, Ofner earned two running break chances in the first game and took advantage of his second opportunity. As a result, he won his service games safely and served to win the match at 5:4. The Styrian wobbled and put a backhand just out of bounds on his opponent’s second break ball. In the following game, Ofner got more break opportunities and was able to take advantage of the third with a spectacular volley. He then served over a debut when he used his third match point for a 6:7 (2), 7:6 (5), 7:5 success after 2:48 hours.
In the second round, Ofner will face the winner of the game between Aleksandar Vukic from Australia against Canadian Felix Auger-Alliassime, who is ranked 8th.
Here is the individual tableau from Tokyo
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2023-10-16 05:00:11
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