Sebastian Offner was pulled out of his dress rehearsal for Wednesday’s French Open in Geneva after a strong performance in the round of 16.
Styrian impressed against second-seeded Norwegian Kasper Ruud, especially in the first set, when he crashed out 6:4, 2:6, 2:6 against the world number seven.
Rudd won the Geneva title in 2021 and 2022 and lost only in the French Open final in the last two years.
Ofner inspires the audience
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With a 2-0 lead behind him, the Norwegian looked to be heading for another win early in the second clash between the two, but Offner struck impressively. Not only did he level it at 2-2, but the Austrian number one made it 4-2 and couldn’t let this advantage slip away from him.
Offner excites the audience with his aggressive, precise playing, while Rudd is only a passenger at times. Of course, Narskar hits the gas in the second round. He holds serve from Offner to take a 3-1 lead and makes it 6-2 with a break early in set three.
The same thing happened in the deciding set, as Offner only managed to fend off one of two break points when he trailed 1:2. He dropped out of the world rankings at No. 45. Of course, he continues to use the opportunity to gain confidence with good moments such as a clean sheet service game for the clay court classic at Roland Garros on Thursday (2pm).
However, it wasn’t enough to turn the set and get his first win against a top ten player. Root celebrated his 32nd win of the season after 1:47 of the clock.
Erler/Midler was sent off on 48 minutes
Geneva is the final stop for Alexander Erler and Lucas Midler. The doubles team conceded a 3:6, 1:6 defeat to Julian Cash/Robert Galloway (GBR/USA) in the first round.
20 of these Austrians made the top 100 in the ATP rankings
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