At the third attempt, Sebastian Ofner managed to score his first victory of the season on grass. After the opening defeats in Stuttgart and Halle, the 28-year-old Styrian defeated the Spaniard Jaume Munar 3:6 6:4 7:6 (7/4) in the first round of the tournament in Mallorca on Monday. For Dominic Thiem, however, his last match on grass on the ATP Tour was against the Frenchman Gael Monfils, losing 3:6 6:7 (3/7).
24.06.2024 19.41
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“The weight that has been lifted from my shoulders is a bigger one, because it wasn’t a really good match for me. The conditions here are completely different to those in Stuttgart and Halle, where I had some problems at the beginning. But I fought and noticed that he didn’t feel comfortable either. It’s really good that I got over it,” said Ofner, who was able to defeat Munar for the first time in the third duel.
In the first set, Austria’s number one took a 2-1 lead with a break, but then had to give up his serve at 3-3 and 5-3. In the second set, Ofner also managed the first break against the 27-year-old Spaniard at 3-1, but had to give up his serve immediately. The Styrian then managed to level the set with a break at 6-4.
Mallorca Championships/Manuel Queimadelos For Sebastian Ofner, the duel with Jaume Munar had a happy ending this time
The deciding match between the world number 54 and Munar, who is ranked 63rd in the ATP rankings, went into a tiebreak without losing a serve. After numerous mini-breaks, a double fault from the Spaniard ended the match after just over two hours. Ofner’s next opponent in the round of 16 is the Italian Luciano Darderi, seeded number five. “It will be an open match,” said Ofner.
Thiem defends himself against Monfils in vain
Thiem went into the duel with Monfils, who is ranked 40th in the ATP rankings, without much match practice. In the first set, the Austrian was fighting a losing battle at the same venue where he sustained the serious wrist injury three years ago. The 37-year-old Frenchman managed to break to 4:2. While Thiem had no break point, Monfils served confidently to make it 6:3.
The match was more balanced in the second set. Thiem had to fend off three break points at 2:2, but still won the game. It went into a tiebreak, in which the Austrian was quickly faced with a 0:4 deficit. Thiem was able to fend off three match points, but Monfils finally ended the match with a volley after 1:18 hours. For the Frenchman, it was the first regular victory against Thiem in ten duels. The only success so far resulted from a resignation by the Lower Austrian.
ATP 250 tournament in Mallorca
(Spain, 1,005,340 euros, grass)
First round table: Ben Shelton (USA/1) bye Rinky Hijikata (AUS) Luca Nardi (ITA) 6:2 2:6 7:5 Maximilian Marterer (GER) Paul Jubb (GBR) -:- -:- Yannick Hanfmann (GER) Adam Walton (AUS) -:- -:- Adrian Mannarino (FRA/3) bye Alex Michelsen (USA) Nuno Borges (POR) 6:3 7:6 (7/4)
Sebastian Ofner (AUT)
Jaume Munar (ESP)
3:6 6:4 7:6 (7/4)
Luciano Darderi (ITA/5)
Pedro Martinez Portero (ESP)
7:5 7:5
Christopher Eubanks (USA/8)
Jakub Mensik (CZE)
-:- -:-
Fabio Fognini (ITA)
Gijs Brouwer (NED)
7:6 (7/4) 7:6 (7/5)
Alexander Schewtschenko (KAZ)
Constant Lestienne (FRA)
7:5 7:6 (7/5)
Alejandro Tabilo (CHI/4)
Freilos
Gael Monfils (FRA/6)
Dominic Thiem (AUT) 6:2 7:6 (7/3) Roberto Carballes Baena (ESP) Pablo Carreno Busta (ESP) 7:6 (7/4) 4:6 7:6 (7/3) Roberto Bautista Agut (ESP) ) Taro Daniel (JPN) 6:1 6:0 Ugo Humbert (FRA/2) Freilos
2024-06-24 16:49:35
#Tennis #Victory #defeat #Mallorca #opener
