Generali Austrian Pro Series, 3rd final day: Ofner beats Melzer, Pichler surprises with group victory
The third final day of the Generali Austrian Pro Series is also over, while in Group A the game between Dennis Novak and Dominic Thiem is still pending, Group B is over. Here Sebastian Ofner secured second place in a direct duel with Jürgen Melzer , David Pichler surprisingly finished first.
by Michael Rothschädl
last edit: Jun 18, 2020, 08:28 pm
At the start of the day, there was probably a duel for youngster Lukas Neumayer, in which he had the best chance of celebrating at least one victory in the final phase of the Generali Austrian Pro Series. Previously, the 17-year-old had suffered quite clearly in two sets against Dennis Novak and Dominic Thiem. His opponent, Alex Erler, on the other hand, was able to surprise Dominic Thiem by securing the first round, only to then leave the game as a loser in three sets. Against Dennis Novak it was a much more painful defeat: the world ranking 85. gave Erler the maximum penalty and cleared the Tyrolean with 6: 0 and 6: 0.
In a direct duel, the young Lukas Neumayer got off to a better start, secured the break in the first set at the right time and clinched round one with 7: 5. In the second set, things continued to be balanced for a long time before Erler Lukas Neumayer did the same, made a late break and equalized with another 7: 5. In the decisive third round it was really exciting, again the two players remained guilty until 5: 5. Then Alex Erler was able to prevent the grand finale in the form of a tiebreak, managed the decisive break again and won with the third 7: 5 of this game.
Pichler with surprising group victory
The starting position was a little clearer in the second match of the day, David Pichler had 1-1 wins before his last group game, while Lenny Hampel had to give up both appearances so far. While this was clearly evident in the first sentence - David Pichler won it 6-2, it was Lenny Hampel who printed his stamp on the second round. The Viennese acted superior and was able to compensate with a 6: 2.
As in the first game of the day, a third round had to make the decision. In this it was very balanced for a long time, a tie break had to bring the decision. In this, however, David Pichler then showed his ambitions to make the climb again from the final group phase: With 7: 4, this went to the Burgenland, Pichler celebrated the second victory in the third game and thus surprisingly took the group victory.
Ofner convinces against Melzer
The big highlight of the day came at the end. Jürgen Melzer and Sebastian Ofner should not meet until 6:30 p.m. Here it was Melzer who entered the court with the better results in the back, having won both group games. Sebastian Ofner, on the other hand, who has so far been the only player to win against Dominic Thiem at the Generali Austrian Pro Series, was surprisingly lost in his group game against David Pichler. "Siegen duty", so it was said for the Styrian.
Ofner showed these ambitions right from the start, the Styrian made the first break of the game in set one and quickly pulled away. Ofner finally secured the opening round with 6: 2. Set also went quickly in clear paths, again Ofner, who made the better start and could not take this advantage anymore. With another 6: 2, the Styrian achieved the important victory over Jürgen Melzer and finally took second place in the group.
| Player 1 | Player 2 | Result |
| Lukas Neumayer | Alexander Erler | 7: 5, 5: 7, 5: 7 |
| David Pichler | Lenny Hampel | 6: 2, 2: 6, 7: 6 (4) |
| Jürgen Melzer | Sebastian Ofner | 2: 6, 2: 6 |