ÖTV: French Open: Ofner knows his opponent in the first round

After the cancellation of Julia Grabher due to injury, which requires follow-up treatment for her operated wrist, Sebastian Offner is currently the only red, white and red participant in the main singles competitions of the French Open in Paris. On Thursday, the draw for the second edition of this year's Grand Slam tournament was held. That gave the 28-year-old a solvable task: Styrian (ATP 45) will face French wildcard Terence Attman (ATP 120) in the first round, who recently reached the third round at an ATP Masters 1000 event. In Rome he scored his first two victories in ATP main draw.

Ofner can also draw on his personal experience against Atmani, as the two have previously faced each other twice. At the ATP Masters 1000 in Paris-Bercy at the end of October 2023, Ofner narrowly won the first round of qualifying with a score of 5:7, 7:5, 6:4 In mid-March 2024, Atmani won the ATP 175 title and Challenger took revenge on Phoenix in The first main round with a score of 7:6 (5), 1:6, 6:4. In the event that Offner gets the upper hand in the third encounter – the first on clay – Argentine Sebastian Baez (20 ATP player), ranked 20th, will wait this time, provided that the winner of the Generali Open Kitzbühel 2023 can win. Prove himself against him. Qualified or lucky loser capable.

Ofner will have to defend his sensational first-ever entry into the last 16 of a Grand Slam from last year. His 205 ATP points including a successful qualification represent his most valuable result to date, and in a worst-case scenario, he only threatens to drop to around 60th in the ATP Rankings, where he has already built a good cushion from. points.