It is a fairytale run for Austria’s Sebastian Ofner. He had never appeared in a grand slam main draw before yet knocked out American 17th seed Jack Sock 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2.
It continues a dream run for the Austrian, who was in danger of going out in the final round of qualifying to Britain’s Jay Clarke. The World No.216 won that match before dismissing Brazil’s Thomaz Bellucci in the first round in straight sets.
The win over Bellucci though a huge ranking upset was probably not that surprising given that the Brazilian is distinctly uncomfortable on grass.
Jack Sock was expected to be a most tougher test, though the American has been in poor form affected in part by injury. A knee injury forced him out of the Wimbledon warm-up at Queens and he dropped a set to Wimbledon debutant Christian Garin in the first round.
Ofner, who did not properly commit to tennis until he finished school at 19, has been working under Gunter Bresnik and Dominic Thiem’s father. His best result before this tournament was reaching the final of the Mestre Challenger.
Ofner won the first two sets as he constantly put Sock under pressure, breaking once from four chances in the first set. Sock played a little more like his ranking, engineering two break chances. However, he failed to take either and Ofner proved ruthless in taking his only chance and winning the set.
Sock proved in control in the third, breaking once from seven chances and denying Ofner his only sniff of a break. Ofner had multiple chances to seize control in the fourth, but missed five times. Sock broke twice and at two sets all fans could have been forgiven for thinking the seeded man would finally prevail.
That proved not to be the case in the fifth. Sock visibly tired and was broken twice as he hit four double faults, double his total from the previous four sets combined.
The win will see Ofner guaranteed a place in the top 200 of the ATP rankings for the first time, and could even move into the Top 150.
Ofner moves to the third round where he will face 10th seed Alexander Zverev. The German star moved into round three with a comfortable win over American Frances Tiafoe. It was the second meeting between the pair after they also met at the Australian Open. Zverev was also a straight sets winner in that match.
It proved to be a bad time for American men as Ryan Harrison and John Isner joined Sock and Tiafoe in exiting the tournament at the second round stage. It leaves just Sam Querrey, Jared Donaldson, and Steve Johnson in the tournament for the United States.
