Generali Open: Sebastian Ofner in round two, Jurij Rodionov fails in qualification
Sebastian Ofner has reached the second round at the Generali Open in Kitzbühel. The Styrian defeated Radu Albot from the Republic of Moldova 6: 7 (5), 6: 4 and 7: 6 (4) and meets Diego Schwartzman on Thursday.
by tennisnet.com
last edit:
Sep 08, 2020, 04:05 pm
Sebastian Ofner did not lack tension in his first appearance at the Generali Open 2020: In the third set, the Austrian was almost hopelessly behind against Radu Albot, turned the game from 3: 5 to 6: 5 in an intermediate sprint - and thanks some double faults do not serve up at first. But Albot also had a certain flair for the drama and gave his opponent a few points in the tie-break, which Ofner gladly accepted. Ofner certainly has 20 points for the ATP world rankings. If more are to be added, a significant increase in performance is required. Because Ofner will meet Diego Schwartzman in his second individual match.
And the Austrian Davis Cup player knows exactly what to expect: an opponent who will make him hit a lot of balls. He will still try to play his game, that is, not to give Schwartzman many chances to dictate the rallies. A difficult undertaking, the Argentine, who was eliminated early at the US Open, is probably the clear favorite for the title in Kitzbühel due to Fabio Fognini's long break. Schwartzman showed that he can play excellent tennis in Austria last year in the Wiener Stadthalle, where he only failed in the final of the Erste Bank Open against his friend Dominic Thiem. Sebastian Ofner follows his performances at the US Open with enthusiasm. And he also trusts his training partner to do the really big coup in New York City.
There was no sense of achievement for Jurij Rodionovin in the second round of the qualifying tournament: The left-hander lost to veteran Federico Delbonis 4-6 and 2-6. The two Germans Maximilian Marterer and Yannick Hanfmann, on the other hand, were able to earn a place in the main field.