After Dominic Thiem's bitter exit in Munich, Sebastian Offner (ATP/43) could make positive tennis headlines elsewhere.
The Austrian, ranked number one in the ATP World Rankings, overcomes his opening hurdle at the ATP 500 tournament in Barcelona. After initial difficulties, he defeated Russian Pavel Kotov (ATP/69) 5:7.6:3.6:2.
Offner quickly fell behind in the first set, trailing 2:5. After a strong comeback – Oefner is back 5:5 after winning three matches – the 27-year-old's performance has declined. Kotov defeated his opponent 7:5.
As a result, Ofner can correct his error rate down and get a break in Game 3. After the tennis professional from Bruck an der Maur performed his services with confidence, he tied in sets.
In the decisive third set, Kotov seemed to have run out of steam, but the Russian held on for some time. Then Ofner runs away and reaches 6:2 and can finally crown his comeback with a victory.
A difficult obstacle awaits him in the next round, as the 27-year-old will face Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, seeded fifth.
These 20 Austrians occupy the top 100 in the ATP rankings
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