French Open: Sebastian Ofner - "It's really great that it went so quickly"
In an interview with tennisnet.com , Sebastian Ofner is happy about the strong performances of the last few weeks and of course especially about the successful qualification for the clay court major in Paris. The Styrian didn't really expect that after the long injury break.
by Stefan Bergmann
last edit: May 20, 2022, 08:24 pm
There are always small miracles, also for Sebastian Ofner. The Austrian suffered severe pain in his foot last summer due to a so-called "hook heel" and had to undergo a more complex operation after conservative therapies did not bring the desired success. From October of the previous year to mid-March, training that was reasonably pain-free was unthinkable. And now the really strong performances of the last few weeks, which were crowned with a successful qualification for the main competition of the French Open.
In an interview with tennisnet.com , the current number four in domestic tennis was quite satisfied with the performances shown in Paris: "The three games were really at a good level for me. The first two matches were very solid, I felt that from the start I played well. The qualifying final was tough, but I finished that well in the third set. I'm really happy with my performance, especially because it was relatively unexpected. After the long injury break, I'm still not pain-free. And for that, the way it went now is really great."
"Didn't expect much"
After all, the French Open is only his sixth tournament after the long injury break and victory at the Challenger tournament in Prague at the end of April could only have been dreamed of. "I'm really happy, because you know exactly what it's like when you've been injured for so long that you're back in the match rhythm. It's good for me that I got back into it so quickly."
The Styrian is absolutely aware that the results achieved so quickly are not a matter of course: "To be honest, I didn't expect much and Wolfgang (Note: Thiem), my coach, told me that I had to take my time, several tournaments , have to play a number of matches before it works again. And that it happened so quickly is really great."
And what's going on at the Grand Slam tournament at the Bois de Bolougne? "In the first round it would of course be good if it was against an opponent against whom I also have a realistic chance of winning. But at the moment I'm planning it in such a way that I concentrate on my performance, how I play, what I bring to the pitch. That fits in well and I'm really looking forward to the main competition."
Here the single tableau from Paris.
Here is the individual qualification tableau from Paris.
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