Sebastian Ofner is going for his first title on the tennis ATP tour on Saturday. Austria’s number one ended the run of British surprise man Paul Jubb at the grass tournament in Mallorca, winning 6:4,7:5 and is now playing in his first final. His opponent at the end of the Wimbledon preparation tournament in the category 250 is Alejandro Tabilo. The 24-year-old Chilean defeated the French veteran Gael Monfils 2:6,6:2,7:6 (3).
In front of a small crowd on the Spanish Balearic island, Ofner lived up to his role as favorite. After 33 minutes, the Styrian wrapped up the first set with a strong serve – only five points lost and eight aces – and a break to make it 2-1.
Ofner was the favorite in the semifinals
Jubb, who is 235 places lower than Ofner in the world rankings, had surprised everyone the day before with his victory against Ben Shelton (ATP 14th). And he improved in the second set by increasing his service rate. Ofner, meanwhile, left nothing to chance as server until he served to avoid losing the set and fended off the Brit’s first break chance with an ace. At 5:5, Ofner dealt his opponent the decisive blow – and after fending off a break chance, served out with the 15th ace to make it 7:5.
“I’ve always played well on grass, but this is my first final, it’s something special for me,” said Ofner after reaching the final. He will face Tabilo for the first time on Saturday (3 p.m.). “I hope it will be a great final. He can play well on grass, but so can I. I hope I’m the winner.”
Monfils missed a milestone in his 6:2, 2:6, 6:7 (3) against Tabilo. He could have reached a final on the tour at least once in the 20th season in a row. So far, only Roger Federer has managed that, Rafael Nadal and Jimmy Connors each did it for 19 years in a row.
2024-06-28 16:19:00
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