The 28-year-old defeated Dutchman Robin Haase 7:5, 6:2 on Sunday afternoon. Ofner will play against Russian Daniil Medvedev, seeded fourth, for a place in the round of 16. The opening match of Julia Grabher from Vorarlberg against American Emma Navarro, seeded eleventh, is scheduled for the evening as the fifth match after 12:00 on Court 10.
Haase, who almost only plays doubles on the ATP tour, kept up with Ofner for long stretches in the first set at the French Open venue Roland Garros, and with the help of some Dutch fans he even managed a break to make it 3-2. But Ofner immediately countered with the equalizer, and with Austria’s number one leading 6-5 and Haase serving 40-0, everything pointed to a tiebreak. But with five points in a row, some of which were very nice, Ofner secured the set.
Break to 3:1 decisive
With the momentum he gained, the world number 56 was not deterred from winning in the second set. The break to 3:1 was decisive. The next break was to 6:2, which ended the match after 72 minutes.
Medvedev is ranked fifth in the world rankings and is the favorite against Ofner. However, clay is the surface on which the former Vienna winner has his weakest results. At the French Open, the quarterfinals in 2021 were his best performance, and he was eliminated in the first round five times – including last year. This year, Medvedev reached the round of 16 at the second Grand Slam tournament of the year.