Final for the Austrian?
Stefanos Tsitsipas already reached the grand final of Roland Garros two years ago at the French Open 2021. The Greek, who has already won two clay-court Major tournaments, was consequently one of the favourites again this year and, as expected, clearly prevailed in three games. Sebastian Ofner’s betting on the world number five’s progress against Stefanos Tsitsipas is now also under a good star.
For the Austrian challenger, this year’s French Open has been a Cinderella fairytale so far. The Styrian became the seventh Austrian ever to reach the last 16 of a Grand Slam tournament and would love to continue making history. However, there is really not much to say that Sebastian Ofner’s prediction of the St. Mareiner’s next surprise victory against Stefanos Tsitsipas will come true.
Of course, it is clear that the Austrian, who had to survive three matches in the qualifying rounds before his three victories in the main draw of the French Open 2023, was already the gross underdog in the last two rounds. Of course, Sebastian Ofner will not enter the round of 16 without a chance.
However, it will be extremely difficult for the current world number 118 to win even one set against an established top 10 player. We therefore recommend betting on Stefanos Tsitsipas winning 3-0 to book his ticket to the quarter-finals, where he could then face Carlos Alcaraz in a showdown
Sebastian Ofner – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 118
Seeded List Position: Qualifier
After Peter Feigl, Thomas Muster, Alex Antonitsch, Stefan Koubek, Jürgen Melzer and Dominic Thiem, Sebastian Ofner has now become the seventh Austrian in tennis history to reach the last 16 at a Grand Slam tournament.
The 27-year-old had to travel a long way for this. After three victories in the qualifying, with which the Styrian qualified for the main draw of a Grand Slam for only the third time in his career, the St. Mareiner now also celebrated three victories in a row in the men’s singles at Roland Garros.
Still mainly on the ATP Challenger Tour
While Maxime Cressy (ATP 44), Sebastian Korda (ATP 30) and Fabio Fognini (ATP 130) were not among the absolute world’s best now. But that should certainly not diminish the performance of the Austrian, who with these three victories recorded his first three victories ever in 2023 in the official ranking of the ATP Tour.
In fact, the Styrian, who has mainly played in ATP Challenger Tour tournaments, has so far only played a rated singles match at the Estoril Open in Cascais, Portugal, which he lost 2-1 to compatriot Dominic Thiem. Ofner’s ATP Tour record for the year now stands at three wins compared to that one loss.
Recognisable improvement in performance from round to round
The value of these three victories is shown by the fact that the Styrian has climbed from 118th to 80th in the virtual ATP world rankings, which should open more doors for the 27-year-old in upcoming ATP Tour tournaments.
There is not much to suggest that Sebastian Ofner’s bet on a quarter-final against Stefanos Tsitsipas will work out. Apart from a compact serve, which reliably won him numerous games on his way to the last 16, he also increasingly improved his returns. While the rate of return points won in round one was still 44%, it was already 47% after 46% in the second round against Fognini.
Stefanos Tsitsipas – Statistics & current form
Current ranking in the world rankings: 5
Position in the seedings: 5
The 24-year-old Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas has been firmly established in the top 10 of the ATP world rankings for years and has already recorded several resounding successes.
In addition to his overall victory at the 2019 ATP Finals, the Athenian has already secured two major titles at Masters tournaments. He won the Monte-Carlo Masters in both 2021 and 2022. The only thing that hasn’t worked out yet is a Grand Slam title. Stef lost the finals of the French Open in 2021 and the Australian Open in 2023 against Novak Djokovic.
Extremely tough draw for the world number five
Now the Greek would very much like a third chance at a Grand Slam, for which, however, he still has a long way to go. Already in the quarter-finals he could face Carlos Alcaraz, against whom Stefanos Tsitsipas just lost the Barcelona Open final 2-0 at the end of April.
If the 24-year-old can also overcome this hurdle, Novak Djokovic would be a theoretical opponent for the semifinals before an opponent like Holger Rune, Casper Ruud or perhaps even Alexander Zverev could be waiting in the big final. Consequently, the fifth-ranked player in the world has not been too lucky with the draw.
Won 30 of 38 singles matches in 2023
At least the odds are clearly in favour of Sebastian Ofner against Stefanos Tsitsipas, who has already won 30 of 38 singles matches on the ATP Tour this year.
In the third round of the French Open, the Greek swept Diego Schwartzman (ATP 95), a very experienced clay court player, 3-0 from the court, not only scoring 76% of the time with his strong first serve, but also winning 59% of the points with his second serve. Stef thus surrendered just one service game even against a gifted return player.
Sebastian Ofner – Stefanos Tsitsipas Direct comparison / H2H record
Head to head: 0:0
Both players are facing each other for the first time in their careers in a rated singles match on the ATP Tour. Consequently, there is no head to head data available yet that could be used in our prediction for Sebastian Ofner against Stefanos Tsitsipas.
Sebastian Ofner – Stefanos Tsitsipas Tip
For Sebastian Ofner, already the entry into the round of 16 can be called a complete success. The Styrian will thus return to the top 100 of the ATP world rankings and has possibly set the course for avoiding qualification at upcoming major tournaments. However, we think it is highly unlikely that he will be able to upset a seasoned top 10 player who already reached the final at Roland Garros two years ago.
It will be very difficult for the Austrian to win the set. In our opinion, the best value is the bet that the Greek favourite will win 3:0.
