Sebastian Ofner in Prague: There is no happy ending
Sebastian Ofner lost the final at the Advantage Cars Prague Open by Moneta but is getting closer to his personal best. The 26-year-old Austrian lost to young Swiss star Dominic Sticker 6-7(7), 3-6 on Sunday afternoon.
by Florian Heer
last edit:
May 07, 2023, 05:54 pm

Stricker fended off all four breakballs and was even able to take the service from Ofner once. After an hour and 35 minutes of play, the 20-year-old left-hander left the field as the winner. Stricker, who beat the top seeded Filip Krajinovic in the semifinals, won his fifth title on the ATP Challenger Tour, the second under his new coach Dieter Kindlmann. Prize money of 9,880 euros and valuable 75 ATP world ranking points are Stricker's well-deserved reward.
Ofner with fourth place in the final in 2023
Ofner was able to continue an overall successful season in Prague. The number 130 in the world was in his fourth final of the year after participating in the finals in Tenerife, Antalya and Zadar.
"Fortunately, I'm in top shape and have been playing for several weeks without any problems," said Ofner, who was unable to play without pain for almost the entire past season due to injuries.
“I have achieved around 315 world ranking points since the beginning of the year. It takes about 600 to make the top 100. So I've already collected more than half. It's only May and we still have about seven months to play. So I see myself on the right track,” explained Ofner, who was already number 130 in the world in April last year and was able to get 50 ATP world ranking points and prize money of 5,820 euros in Prague. "If I can maintain my level, a place in the top 100 will come naturally."
Ofner stops Barrios Vera in the quarterfinals
Ofner entered the final with victories over the Russian youngster Yaroslav Demin, the Argentinian Camilo Ugo Carabelli, Tomas Barrios Vera from Chile and the Slovakian Lukas Klein. Even if many other encounters this week may have looked closer in terms of the result, the quarter-final victory over Barrios Vera was a particularly valuable one. After all, the South American started the duel with Ofner with two freshly won Challenger titles and a winning streak of 12 games.
"You have one or the other thought beforehand that this can be a particularly tough match," revealed the number 8 on the seeding list of the clay court tournament, which is endowed with 73,000 euros, but made it clear: "Even if I gave up in the second set Break was behind, but I always had the feeling that I could come back.”
Prague as a good place
Ofner already triumphed last year at the Sparta Prague Open, the second Challenger tournament in the Czech metropolis, and seems to feel at home in the golden city. Nonetheless, the Styrian is focused on what's happening on the pitch." Sure, you go out to eat. However, I'm not the type for big city tours," said Ofner with a smile.
It's good that there's a home game coming up next week. Ofner will be at the start with the brilliantly cast Challenger in Mauthausen before the qualifying tournament in the Stade Roland-Garros is due. However, another successful return to Prague is not out of the question.