Australian Open | A player celebrates his victory too early and ultimately loses his qualifying match
(Melbourne) Austrian Sebastian Ofner was cruelly eliminated from qualifying for the Australian Open on Wednesday: thinking he had won the match, he celebrated his victory before realizing he had made a mistake with the rule, then collapsed and lost the match.
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Ofner, 131e world player, was opposed to the American Nishesh Basavareddy, 239e in the world rankings. At 6-6 in the third and final set, the outcome of the match between the two men came down to a super tiebreaker.
The Austrian, former 37e world player, widened the gap to 6-1, before winning the next point. Leading 7-1, he then raised his arms in celebration and triumphantly approached the net to shake his opponent’s hand.
The match referee then interrupted him and had to remind him of the rule, namely that the super tiebreaker is played in ten winning points, and not in seven like classic tiebreakers.
Disturbed, Ofner then lost his temper, conceding eight of the next nine points to ultimately lose 13-11 in the super tiebreaker.
“I knew there was time left […] In a super tiebreaker, there is always a chance, so I kept believing in it,” said Ofner’s opponent, Nishesh Basavareddy.
“I saw him more and more tense, but the balls were a little worn, and it was war on every exchange. My goal was just to put as many balls on the court as possible,” he explained.
The 20-year-old American will play his final qualifying match at the Australian Open against Britain’s George Loffhagen, 211e world player.
