Strong appearance: Austria was well represented at the million-dollar tournament in Madrid

This year, other Austrians are also in major roles – in leading roles. Julia Grabher managed to become the second Austrian to beat former number 2 Paula Badosa within a short period of time. After the victory of Lilli Tagger in Linz The Vorarlberg woman won in Madrid 6:7(3),6:4,0:6. Canadian Leylah Fernandez, a former Grand Slam finalist (US Open 2021), is waiting on Thursday.

But two other ÖTV aces will be in action on Wednesday. Sinja Krausthe surprisingly neo-Austrian in the last qualifying round Anastasia Potapowa will meet the strong Czech Karolina Pliskova in the evening.

Mentally strong again

That was allowed Sebastian Ofner already kicking off – Austria’s number one beat Georgian Nikolos Basilashvili 7:6 (5), 7:6 (0). In the first set, Ofner led 5-0 in the tie-break in a game that was marked by many errors, before the Georgian reduced the lead to 5-4. But the Styrian had the better end for himself. In the second round, the mentally strong 29-year-old fended off two set points and confidently won the second tie-break 7-0.

“I was the more stable one in the tie-break, I’m happy. The return can still be improved,” said Ofner after his first victory in an ATP main competition this year.

Argentine is waiting

There is no alternative to improving against the Argentinian Tomas Etcheverry, who is number 25. The balance speaks in Ofner’s favor; he won his only game so far in Bastad in 2023. “He will give me more rhythm than Basilashvili,” hopes Ofner.