SUMMARY
- Sebastian Ofner was one of the most improved players in the 2023 season.
- Sebastian Ofner has been playing tennis and soccer since childhood.
There has been a rise in the number of youngsters stealing the limelight on the ATP tour. Sebastian Ofner is one of the players whose career graph has been peaking in recent years. The 2024 season has been his best so far, and he is setting up big targets for the year. His rivals have noticed Ofner’s consistency on the tour, as he intends to dominate it.
Ofner is currently the highest-ranked Austrian player and the only one from his country in the top 50 of the rankings. He hopes to enter the top 20 of the rankings this season. Ofner has the potential to break into the top tier of the tour and will do so. Although he started playing tennis a bit late, Ofner has picked up the game well.
Sebastian Ofner and his family
Ofner was born on May 12, 1996, in Bruck an den Mur, Austria. His father, Hansjorg, is a software engineer, and his mother, Gabriela, is an office worker. Ofner has a brother, Christopher. While Ofner does not have a sporting background, he was introduced to tennis at the age of six. He played it for the first time during a tennis camp in Styria. He used to play football along with tennis.
When Ofner was ten years old, he chose tennis over soccer. Since then, he has been spending time on the court. The Austrian Federation selected him when he was 14 years old, but Ofner did not play tennis full-time until he was 19. He attended the Sports High School in Neusiedl am See, Austria, and graduated in 2015. Ofner has not attended college as he was travelling on the tour.
Stefan Rettl and Wolfgang Thiem coach the 27-year-old. Ofner also trained at the Gunter Bresnik Academy. Other than tennis, he plays soccer and is also a fan of video games. Ofner supports FC Barcelona and does not miss their matches. He is currently not in a relationship and has not spoken about it in the media.
Sebastian Ofner’s performance on the ITF tour
Ofner has spent considerable time on the ITF circuit before making his debut on the ATP tour. He played his first match on the ITF tour in 2012 in India against Vinayak Sharma Kaza. Ofner lost the match in straight sets and suffered another opening-round loss in the next event. He won his first match in 2013 against Robin Kern in Austria.
Ofner reached his first ITF final in 2015 at Voagau, Austria, while losing to Dmitry Popko. After turning professional in 2015, he reached eight finals on the ITF tour in 2016 and won four of them. In the same season, Ofner made his debut in the ATP Challenger events but could not secure a breakthrough.
Ofner used to play doubles regularly on the ITF tour and had won two titles. He also won one doubles title on the challenger’s circuit. But over the past few years, Ofner has focused only on singles.
Sebastian Ofner gets a good start on the ATP tour
A year after Ofner had featured in the ATP Challengers, his performance improved drastically. He reached the finals at the Meastre Challengers. Two months later, Ofner, ranked No. 217, battled through the qualifying stages at Wimbledon and featured in the main draw. He beat Thomaz Bellucci in the opening round and secured his biggest career win in the second round against Jack Sock.
Ofner made sure the fans noticed him at the 2017 Wimbledon Championships. It was his first event on the ATP tour, and he went on to reach the third round as Alexander Zverev beat him in straight sets. Three weeks later, Ofner again shocked the tennis world by reaching the semifinals at the Kitzbuhel Open, an ATP 250 event. His form dropped towards the end of the season.
What a moment…
World No.217 Sebastian Ofner sees off No.17 seed Jack Sock 6-3, 6-4, 3-6, 2-6, 6-2 to reach the third round.#Wimbledon pic.twitter.com/2bgUblKOoi
— Wimbledon (@Wimbledon) July 6, 2017
In 2018, Ofner reached the fourth round in Sao Paulo, which was his best performance of the season. In 2019, he struggled on the ATP tour but performed well at the Challengers event. His rankings went down during the pandemic, and he was not able to play much. In the 2021 season, he managed to reach the fourth round at Newport but could not sustain the form.
Sebastian Ofner’s injuries and comeback on tour
While Ofner had made a mark on his ATP tour debut, he was not seen much at the events. Given his form, his rankings dropped as he exited the top 200 in the 2022 season. Ofner did not play in the first three months of the tour and ended his season in September. He suffered a heel injury, which restricted him from playing consistently.
He exited the opening round of the French Open in 2022 and reached the fourth round at Kitzbuhel. Things changed for Ofner once he had surgery done on his knee in 2022. The 2023 season saw a much fitter and more competitive Ofner playing on the tour. He was playing without taking much of a break, as the results were all in his favour.
Following a run to the Round of 16 at Roland Garros, Sebastian Ofner becomes the new Austrian No. 1 🇦🇹#ATPChallenger pic.twitter.com/5pDXrj506R
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) June 12, 2023
Ofner left a mark at the 2023 French Open, where he reached the fourth round. The results saw the Austrian enter the top 100 for the first time. Four months later, he reached the semifinals in Astana, beating Dominic Thiem on the way. With his success in Astana, Ofner entered the top 50 in the rankings and ended the season ranked No. 44.
This season, Ofner started his journey by reaching the semifinals in Hong Kong. He beat Roberto Bautista Agut, Jan-Lennard Struff and Mackenzie McDonald on the way to reach the last four. Ofner was denied an appearance in the finals by Emil Ruusuvuori. The performance gave Ofner his career-best ranking of No. 37.
Sebastian Ofner and his connection with Dominic Thiem
Ofner has been one of the top players from Austria in recent times. While Thiem held the top spot in the rankings for Austria for quite some time, the honour is now upon Ofner. Both players had known each other even before Ofner made a name on the ATP tour. He is currently being coached by Thiem’s father, Wolfgang, who also coaches Thiem.
The 2020 US Open winner even congratulated Ofner for his performance during the 2017 Wimbledon championships. Ofner had joked about asking Thiem for strategy and advice at Wimbledon. Both players have played four matches against each other, and Thiem leads their head-to-head with three wins. They played doubles together at Kitzbuhel last year.
His rise on the tour has been nothing short of exceptional. He has already earned $1,914,527 in prize money. Ofner will hope to inspire the next generation of players from Austria to pursue the sport.
