Sebastian Ofner was eliminated in the second round of the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona on Wednesday. The 27-year-old Styrian had to admit defeat to the Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas 4:6 5:7. In the second set, Ofner was only two points away from equalizing the set against the Monte Carlo winner on his own serve. Jurij Rodionov also lost 6:7 (3/7) 2:6 against Alexander Zverev in the Munich round of 16.
17.04.2024 20.25
Online since today, 8:25 p.m
In his second duel with Tsitsipas after the one in the round of 16 of the 2023 French Open, Ofner had to give up his first serve against the Greek. The Austrian quickly managed the rebreak against the seventh in the world rankings, who had returned to the top ten with his victory at the Masters 1000 tournament in Monte Carlo. However, Ofner then had to give up his service again to make it 3:4 and then lost the first set.
Austria’s number one also fell behind with a break in the second set, but converted a 2:3 deficit into a 5:3 lead with two breaks. Ofner seemed to be well on the way to equalizing the set, but lost a 30-0 lead and had to accept the rebreak to make it 4-5. This was the rhythm of the world number 43. Broken. Tsitsipas managed the decisive break to make it 6:5 and he then used his third match point after a playing time of 1:37 hours.
IMAGO/Sipa USA/Felipe Mondino Stefanos Tsitsipas also left the court in the second duel with Sebastian Ofner without losing a set
Rodionov was only at eye level in the first set
In his first duel with a top ten player, Rodionov was particularly happy with the first set. In contrast to top seed Zverev, the 24-year-old had four break chances at 2:2. But the fifth in the world rankings saved the game. With the score at 5:4 for the German, the match had to be interrupted for around 2:20 hours after 44 minutes due to hailstorms.
After the unwanted pause, the song continued in the same key. Rodionov makes it anything but easy for Zverev, impressed with his speed in his strokes and was untouchable on his serve. So after 57 minutes of play it went into a tiebreak. Zverev, who celebrates his 27th birthday on Saturday, prevailed with 7/3.
IMAGO/Hasenkopf/Juergen Jurij Rodionov had to bow to the greater class of Alexander Zverev in the end
With 1-0 for Rodionov, the game was interrupted again in the second round at just six degrees. After resuming, things went quickly. Rodionov gave up his service games to 1:2 and 1:4, and the game was over just five hours after the first service. Zverev was happy to be in the quarter-finals of one of his home tournaments for the first time since 2019. Rodionov, in turn, missed out on reaching an ATP quarterfinal for the third time in his career.
ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona
Second round: Fabian Marozsan (HUN/17) Luca van Assche (FRA) 6:0 3:2 right. Facundo Diaz Acosta (ARG) Borna Coric (CRO/15) 6:2 7:5 Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) Lorenzo Musetti (ITA/10) 7:6 (7/4) 6:4 Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE/5)
Sebastian Ofner (AUT) 6:4 7:5 Alex de Minaur (AUS/4) Rafael Nadal (ESP) 7:5 6:1 Arthur Fils (FRA/16) Daniel Altmaier (GER) 6:4 1:6 6:1 Alejandro Davidovich Fokina (ESP/11) Tomas Machac (CZE) wo Dusan Lajovic (SRB) Ugo Humbert (FRA/6) 6:4 6:4 Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) Sebastian Baez (ARG/8) 5:7 7:6 ( 10/8) 6:2 Marco Trungelliti (ARG) Nicolas Jarry (CHI/9) 7:6 (7/5) 6:3 Jordan Thompson (AUS/14) Jaume Munar (ESP) 6:4 2:6 6: 4 Casper Ruud (NOR/3) Alexandre Müller (FRA) 6:3 6:4 Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) Andrea Vavassori (ITA) 4:6 6:3 6:1 Cameron Norrie (GBR/12) Harold Mayot (FRA) ) 7:6 (7/3) 6:7 (6/8) ret. Tomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG/13) Nick Hardt (DOM) 7:5 6:2 Brandon Nakashima (USA) Andrej Rublew (RUS/2) 6:4 7:6 (8/6)
ATP 250 tournament in Munich
Round of 16 tableau: Alexander Zverev (GER/1)
Yuri Rodionov (AUT) 7:6 (7/3) 6:2 Christian Garin (CHI) Alex Michelsen (USA) -:- -:- Taylor Fritz (USA/3) Alexander Moro Canas (ESP) -:- -:- Jack Draper (GBR/6) Rudolf Molleker (GER) 4:6 6:1 6:1 Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN/5) Taro Daniel (JPN) -:- -:- Jan-Lennard Struff (GER/4) Botic van de Zandschulp (DOW) -:- -:- Yannick Hanfmann (GER) Marc-Andrea Hüsler (SUI) -:- -:- Holger Rune (DEN/2) Daniel Elahi Galan (COL) -:- -:-
