It was a scene that will be discussed for a long time. With the score at 4:1 for Ofner, Atmane threw a frustrated punch at the crowd after a lost rally, hitting a spectator on the kneecap. According to the rules, the match should have ended early. First the referee, then the head referee, who only rushed over after a few minutes, spoke to the person who had been hit, and then Ofner’s opinion was also sought. To the incomprehension of many, Atmane, who did not apologize for the action, was allowed to continue playing.
“I thought it should have been over, he shot 250 straight into the crowd. The penalties in the Challengers are crazy, and in a Grand Slam he does something like that and is not punished. It’s difficult to understand. Either you have limits or you don’t. If you do something like that, you should be punished for it,” said Ofner in an interview with ServusTV. Continuing to play was not a problem for him despite the interruption. “But there have to be rules somewhere.”
Wow.
On court 12, Atmane hit a spectator with a ball in frustration.
Ofner wanted disqualification, umpire and supervisor disagree.
Surprised with this decision … pic.twitter.com/zrDWJhln5j
— José Morgado (@josemorgado) 26. May 2024
“One of the biggest matches I’ve ever filmed”
Since Ofner prevailed in the end, the whole thing had a fair ending. “I’m super happy now, it was a really good win,” said the right-hander on the court after midnight. For two and a half sets, he had put in one of the worst performances of the season. “But somehow I played my way into it and turned a crazy match around,” said the world number 45. “It was one of the biggest matches I’ve ever turned around.” Austria’s number one will face either the number 20 seeded Argentinian Sebastian Baez or the Brazilian qualifier Gustavo Heide as his next opponent.
French Open
Tableau Herren
Austria’s number one will face either the number 20 seeded Argentinian Sebastian Baez or the Brazilian qualifier Gustavo Heide as his next opponent. Ofner can watch the Monday duel between the two players in peace from the stands. By reaching the round of 16 in 2023, the ÖTV ace has a lot of points to defend at Roland Garros.
Due to a rain interruption, Austria’s number one had to start late at 8:15 p.m. and on a different court than the one previously planned. Court 12 turned out to be a poor surface. Atmane managed the first break to make it 3-1, held on to this advantage and converted his first set point after 31 minutes. Symptomatic of a slight backhand error by the ÖTV player.
Ofner turns up the heat after a 0-2 deficit
In the second set, Ofner was able to make up a 0:40 deficit at 1:1, but the local hero took advantage of break chance number four. The underdog took his opponent’s serve again to make it 4:1. At that point, the game was completely out of Ofner’s control, but he seemed to be able to find his way back with his first break to make it 2:4, a game to zero to make it 3:4 and another break to make it 4:4. After a double fault, Atmane hit the ground with his racket and kicked an advertising board, but this gave him a boost.
After what was probably the longest rally of the match, the Frenchman broke to make it 5:4 and then served out. The third set began as badly as possible with a double fault that led to a loss of serve. Atmane was able to fend off a break chance from the Austrian with a strong serve when he was 3:2 ahead. At 4:3, the underdog’s nerves were shaking and he had to accept the 4:4 with a slight forehand error. In the end, the tiebreak had to decide, in which a net roller to make it 2:1 for Ofner initiated the turnaround in the match.
Match point shortly before midnight
The ÖTV ace used the second set point to make it 7:2, took the momentum and quickly pulled ahead to 4:0 with a double break. After the scandalous action and a break of more than ten minutes, Ofner stayed cool and used his second set point. The deciding set was on a knife edge. After a break for Ofner and a rebreak to make it 2:2, the serve continued until 5:5. Then Ofner decisively took the serve from his opponent and served out.
French Open in Paris, Men’s Singles
(France, Grand Slam tournament, 53.5 million euros, clay court)
Starting table: Novak Djokovic (SRB/1) Pierre-Hugues Herbert (FRA) Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) Constant Lestienne (FRA) Gael Monfils (FRA) Thiago Seyboth Wild (BRA) -:- -:- -:- Lorenzo Musetti (ITA/30) Daniel Elahi Galan (COL) -:- -:- -:- Francisco Cerundolo (ARG/23) Yannick Hanfmann (GER) :- -:- -:-
Filip Misolic (AUT) Otto Virtanen (FIN) -:- -:- -:- Botic Van De Zandschulp (NED) Fabio Fognini (ITA) -:- -:- -:- Tommy Paul (USA/14) Pedro Cachin (ARG) -:- -:- -:- Taylor Fritz (USA/12) Federico Coria (ARG) -:- -:- -:- Dusan Lajovic (SRB) Roman Safiullin (RUS) -:- -:- -:- Thanasi Kokkinakis (AUS) Alexei Popyrin (AUS) -:- -:- -:- Adrian Mannarino (FRA/22) Giulio Zeppieri (ITA) -:- -:- -:- Thomas Martin Etcheverry (ARG/28) Arthur Cazaux (ARG/28) FRA Arthur Rinderknech (FRA) Adam Walton (AUS) Alexander Davidovich Fokina (ESP) Valentin Vacherot (MON) Casper Ruud (NOR/7) Felipe Meligeni Alves (BRA) -:- -:- -:- Alexander Zverev (GER/4) Rafael Nadal (ESP) -:- -:- -:- Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard (FRA) David Goffin (BEL) Rinky Hijikata (AUS) Luciano Darderi (ITA) Tallon Griekspoor (NED/26) Mackenzie McDonald (USA) -:- Karen Chatschanow (RUS/18) Sumit Nagal (IND) -:- -:- -:- Marcos Giron (USA) Jozef Kovalik (SVK) -:- -:- -:- Flavio Cobolli (ITA) Hamad Medjedovic Holger Rune (DEN/13) Daniel Evans (GBR) Alex de Minaur (AUS/11) Alex Michelsen (USA) :- -:- Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) Jaume Munar (ESP) -:- -:- -:- Roman Andres Burruchaga (ARG) Jan-Lennard Struff (GER) -:- -:- -:- Alexander Bublik ( KAZ/19 Gregoire Barrere (FRA) Mariano Navone (ARG/31) Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) -:- -:- -:- Nuno Borges (POR) Tomas Machac (CZE) Miomir Kecmanovic (SRB) Thiago Monteiro (BRA) Daniel Medvedev (RUS/5) Dominic Koepfer (GER) Andrei Rubljew (RUS/6) Taro Daniel (JPN) 6:2 6:7 (3/7) 6:3 7:5 Peter Martinez Goalie (ESP) Thiago Agustin Tirante (ARG) 5:7 6:4 3:6 :4 6:3 Alexandre Muller (FRA) Luca Nardi (ITA) 6:4 6:1 6:3 Arthur Fils (FRA/29) Matteo Arnaldi (ITA) -:- -:- -:- Lorenzo Sonego (ITA) Ugo Humbert (FRA/17) 6:4 2:6 6:4 6:3 Zhang Zhizhen (CHN) Alexander Vukic (AUS) 6:4 4:6 6:3 7:5 Laslo Djere (SRB) Daniel Altmaier (GER). ) -:- -:- -:- Stefanos Tsitsipas (GRE/9) Marton Fucsovics (HUN) -:- -:- -:- Ben Shelton (USA/15) Hugo Gaston (FRA) :- Kei Nishikori (JPN) Gabriel Diallo (CAN) 7:5 7:6 (7/3) 3:6 1:6 7:5 Max Purcell (AUS) Henry Squire (GER) -:- -:- -: Felix Auger-Aliassime (CAN/21) Yoshihito Nishioka (JPN) – Sebastian Korda (USA/27) Harold Mayot (FRA) 6:2 7:6 (7/4) 6:4 Emil Ruusuvuori (FIN) Kwon Soon Woo (KOR) -:- -:- -:- Jesper de Jong (NED) Jack Draper (GBR) 7:5 6:4 6:7 (3/7) 3:6 6:5. 3 Carlos Alcaraz (ESP/3) Jeffrey John Wolf (USA) 6:1 6:2 6:1 Hubert Hurkacz (POL/8) Shintaro Mochizuki (JPN) 4:6 6:3 3:6 6:0 6:3 Brandon Nakashima (USA) Nicolas Moreno de Alboran (USA) 6:1 6:7 (6/8) 6:3 6:2 Luca van Assche (FRA) Denis Shapovalov (CAN) -:- -:- -:- French Tiafoe (USA/25) Mattia Bellucci (ITA) -:- -:- -:- Zizou Bergs (BEL) Alexander Tabilo (CHI/24) 3:6 7:6 (7/5) 6:2 6:2 Maximilian Marterer (GER) Jordan Thompson (AUS) 6:3 6:2 6:0 Fabian Marozsan (HUN) Michail Kukuschkin (KAZ) 6:2 6:2 6:3 Grigor Dimitrow (BUL/10) Aleksandar Kovacevic (USA) :4 6:3 6:4 Corentin Moutet (FRA) Nicolas Jarry (CHI/16) 6:2 6:1 3:6 6:0 Alexander Schewtschenko (KAZ) Aslan Karazev (RUS) -:- -:- -: –
Sebastian Ofner (AUT) Terence Atmane (FRA) 3:6 4:6 7:6 (7/2) 6:2 7:5 Sebastian Baez (ARG/20) Gustavo Heide (BRA) -:- -:- -:- Cameron Norrie (GBR/32) Pawel Kotow (RUS) -:- -:- -:- Stan Wawrinka (SUI) Andy Murray (GBR) 6:4 6:4 6:2 Richard Gasquet (FRA) Borna Coric (CRO) :6 (7/5) 7:6 (7/2) 6:4 Jannik Sinner (ITA/2) Christopher Eubanks (USA) -:- -:- -:-
