French Open in Paris, Round of 16, Sunday, 04.06.2023
It’s a very special French Open for Austria, because they actually got a qualifier through to the last 16! Sebastian Ofner surprises everyone in Paris, now taking on one of the very, very big ones.
On Sunday he will play the world number 5 and of course he knows that Bet365 is not the only place where he is expected to be far behind. In my Ofner Tsitsipas tip, I now also reveal why I unfortunately expect the Austrian triumph to come to an end!
He had to turn 27 to be able to celebrate the biggest success of his career so far! Sebastian Ofner is spending things at the French Open that you would never have thought possible before the tournament.
After a very confident qualification, he was looking forward to his third main draw, not bothered by the fact that his first two opponents from the USA had been clearly favoured.
The (still) world number 118 first won 6-4, 7-6, 6-2 against Maxime Cressy before a much bigger coup was to await him. Sebastian Korda is one of the greatest talents of this time, a real top-30 man.
But on this day he had no chance at all against Ofner, in the end it was 6-3, 7-6, 6-4 for the outsider. The Styrian saved the real thriller for the 3rd round, where veteran Fabio Fognini was waiting for him.
The match went back and forth for hours and was extremely exhausting for both players. But Ofner was finally the one to cheer, winning 5-7, 6-3, 7-5, 1-6, 6-4.
He could have broken an unbelievable 28 times, and twelve times he managed to win the point. Fognini was a little more resolute here, having used twelve of his 19 opportunities. One thing is clear: Ofner must not allow himself so many sloppy service games against Tsitsipas!
His service was much worse than in the two rounds before, stopping at 61% won points on the first serve and 42% on the second. Nevertheless, I don’t want to spare praise at this point, of course.
The Austrian is likely to break into the world’s top 80, regardless of the outcome of the round of 16, making him the best player in his country. “I’m making the jump from 118 to 80. Unbelievable, I can’t really believe it yet. “
He also deserves the 240,000 euros in prize money. To compete against the category of a Stefanos Tsitsipas, THAT is a completely different story, which can also be seen in the odds of our betting providers. On average, they show a 1.06 to 11.0.
The two once met in a qualifier in 2017, when Tsitsipas won by a razor-thin margin 6-7, 6-4, 6-4. A lot has happened since then, of course, and the Greek has held his own in the top 10 for a long time.
What he still lacks is a Grand Slam title. He has already come very close several times, in 2021, also here in Paris, he was already leading 2-0 against Novak Djokovic before the grandmaster finally took command.
After a somewhat laborious 7-5, 6-3, 4-6, 7-6 against Jiri Vesely, Tsitsipas became stronger and stronger. First he beat Roberto Carballes 6-3, 7-6, 6-2, finally met Diego Schwartzman in the 3rd round.
6-2, 6-2, 6-3, in a slow start and only two hours he had reached the last 16. That could be a big plus over Sebastian Ofner, who was on court for more than twice the time.
Tsitsipas only used six of 18 break chances, was a bit careless with his chances here. By the way, he knows how it feels to be eliminated in the last 16 at the French Open, because that is exactly what happened to him last year.
At that time, however, Holger Rune was a much stronger player than Sebastian Ofner is now. The Austrian is aware of the calibre of player he will be facing on Sunday.
“He is a top ten player for many years, that is another level and I have already played six matches here. It’s going to be really tough, but I’m going to try to give it my all again and just put in a good performance. “
My Ofner Tsitsipas tip
All of Austria will be looking towards Paris on Sunday, where Sebastian Ofner will represent the colours white and red. The qualifier will be among the best 80 after the tournament, shows sensational performances at this French Open.
But the victory against Fabio Fognini will have cost him an enormous amount of energy, while his opponent had the much easier path to the last 16. Stefanos Tsitsipas has been one of the best players in the world for years.
Of course, I would wish Ofner a surprise, but I believe that Tsitsipas, who desperately wants to reach the final, will be quite humourless. Since Ofner already has tons of hours in his bones, my tip is also:
Tsitsipas wins outright against Ofner!
