Tsitsipas with respect to Ofner

After Dominic Thiem left the first round, it is the 27-year-old from Styria who is the first Austrian since Thiem more than two years ago (Australian Open) to reach the round of 16 of a major tournament. After the five-set win over Fabio Fognini, which is well worth seeing, Ofner faced a big hurdle on Sunday: The Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas is the clear favorite.

In addition to the obvious difference in terms of ranking and experience, Ofner, of course, already has six matches under his belt, including the 3:54 hour game against Fognini. In any case, Ofner is aware of the role of the clear outsider. “I’m not expecting anything. I’ll try to play my game and see how it works and whether I have to change anything in the match,” said Wolfgang Thiem’s ​​Styrian protégé.

“I can’t expect much”

Tsitsipas has been a top ten player for years. “In my opinion, that’s one step above the others. I’ve played two or three times against a top ten player so I can’t expect much from that.” Ofner has even played against Tsitsipas before, but that was in a different era from a tennis perspective. In 2017 in the qualification for Antwerp, Ofner won the first set 7:6, before losing twice 4:6. By the way, the Greek made it into the semi-finals and into the top 100 for the first time thanks to the first win over a top ten man.

Tsitsipas hasn’t left it since then and now he’s consistently in the top ten and is finally hoping for his first Grand Slam title. At this year’s Australian Open and in Roland Garros 2021 he was already in the final.

“He can do everything – if you’re in the top ten, you have to. He’ll try to put me under pressure with every shot, he serves really well, it’s going to be a really difficult match,” says Ofner. But of course he doesn’t give up beforehand. “If I play well, play aggressively, serve and return well, it can certainly be uncomfortable for him too.”

“Not much is missing”

With 180 ATP points and 240,000 euros gross, Ofner has written more than ever in the ranking and on the account. A total of 360 or 400,000 euros is at stake for the quarter-finals. It is probably fixed that Ofner will run against the number 5 in the world either on the Suzanne Lenglen court or even in the world’s largest sand court stadium, the Philippe Chatrier court. “I’m really happy that it’s going to be a big stadium. I played against Zverev in Lenglen last year,” he recalled the three-set defeat against the German in the first round of Paris.

Ofner had the best and most important insight before the hit against the two-time Monte Carlo winner and ATP Finals winner in 2019 (via Thiem). He’s already secured 80th place and will likely be in the top 100 for the rest of the year. This allows Ofner to increasingly leave the challenger level and play more on the ATP tour. “Yes, I think that I will be among the top 100 for sure this year, I can’t really believe that yet,” says Ofner happily.

“In 2017 I was at 130, in 2019 it was 126 the last time, when I was closer. But I had the feeling that something was still missing, consistency. This year I saw that there wasn’t much missing.” His long ordeal after a heel wedge in his left foot is finally a thing of the past. A recipe for success is the attitude in the head: “I don’t think about how a shot or a result was, I just play.”

Despite four Challenger finals this year and the current run in Paris, Ofner does not yet see himself at the zenith. “I haven’t had a run in a match where I’ve played above or way above my means so far, so it feels really incredible.”

Tstitsipas with respect

Against a Tsitsipas, who only started the tournament a bit “rusty” in the first round, but then acted confidently, Ofner will of course have to step up several gears.

In his press conference, Tsitsipas stated that he saw a little of Ofner’s match against Fognini. “I know that clay suits him very well. He’s also had good results on clay in the past. You might not see him go far in Masters 1000 tournaments or 500s very often, but I’m sure he feels comfortable with his tennis very well,” said the 24-year-old with the remarkable one-handed backhand.

In any case, it will be a “very different challenge” for him, because otherwise he will compete against players he sees on the tour. “But I will approach the match with seriousness and professionalism.” It doesn’t matter who wins the game – Tsitsipas would also be an outsider in the quarter-finals: Because there is a high probability that top favorite Carlos Alcaraz will be waiting, who previously had Lorenzo Musetti (ITA-17) as an opponent.