On Mallorca

LIVE from 3 pm: Will Ofner win the Mallorca final?

Sebastian Ofner lost in front of Jürgen Klopp's eyes

(Bild: APA/MANUEL QUEIMADELOS)

Sebastian Ofner missed out on his first tour title at the ATP 250 grass tournament on Mallorca on Saturday. The 28-year-old Styrian, who was playing in his first ever final on the tour, was beaten 3:6, 4:6 by the number 4 seed from Chile, Alejandro Tabilo, in front of 3,500 spectators after 74 minutes.

It was Ofner's first appearance at this tournament and he will now play Aleksandar Vukic in the first round at Wimbledon on Monday.

Dominic Thiem thus remains the only Austrian tennis player to have won an ATP tournament on grass (Stuttgart 2016). Ofner thanked the Austrian organizer Edwin Weindorfer at the award ceremony: "It's a great event. I felt very comfortable here." And he congratulated his conqueror: "You've had a perfect week and a great year and are now in the top 20." He also thanked touring coach Stefan Rettl and physio Stefan Trost.

Dominic Thiem

(Bild: GEPA pictures)

Klopp looked on
Ofner can console himself with a gross cheque for 82,715 euros and 165 points for the ATP rankings. The latter brings him back into the top 50 in the rankings. Tournament director Toni Nadal, Rafael's uncle, came up with a nice gesture as he said to Ofner in German: "You played a great tournament and I hope you can have a great tournament at Wimbledon next week."

In front of Jürgen Klopp, who was present in a German soccer shirt at the invitation of tournament organizer Edwin Weindorfer, and Dieter Bohlen, among others, the match did not initially go Ofner's way in strong winds. The Styrian had to concede the first break of the match against the Canadian-born Chilean at 2:4 and lost the first set 3:6 after 30 minutes. The main reason for this was Ofner's first serve with a rate of only 43 percent. It didn't help that he won all nine points when the first service came. Tabilo, on the other hand, didn't even have to fend off a break point.

Ofner had the turning point on his racket in the second round when he had his first two break points at 3:2 and 15:40 on Tabilo's serve, but missed them somewhat carelessly. At 4:4, Ofner made too many mistakes on his own serve and gave away the service to make it 4:5. Tabilo then used his third match point to win his second tournament victory in his fourth final overall.

Ofner had beaten Tabilo in two sets in their only previous meeting in January 2023 in the second qualifying round of the Australian Open. But this year's Auckland winner and Rome semi-finalist was simply the more consistent player in this encounter. "It's been an incredible, crazy year so far. I hope I can keep playing at this level," said the winner Tabilo. He couldn't believe that he was now in the top 20 for the first time.

Ofner had beaten Tabilo in two sets in the second qualifying round of the Australian Open in January 2023 in their only previous meeting. But this year's Auckland winner and Rome semi-finalist was simply the more consistent player in this encounter.

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