Get to know Sebastian Ofner, the Austrian who is rising rapidly

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Twelve months ago, Sebastian Ofner was No. 193 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings, having lost in the final round of qualifying at the Australian Open. This week the Austrian is back in Melbourne as the World No. 37 and nearly high enough to be seeded in the main draw.

“It has been a great year for me,” Ofner told ATPTour.com. “To be here, competing with the best, shows progress.”

Ofner’s journey to this point started 21 years ago in Styria, a southeastern region of Austria. He quickly found his love for the game but had to make a difficult decision at age 10.

“I started playing when I was six years old. There was a tennis camp near my hometown,” Ofner said. “From the part where I am in Austria, in the state of Styria, there was the tennis association. I also played football and it was the decision between whether should I stay in tennis or football. I decided on tennis when I was 10 and I think it was a good decision.”

Ofner began to take tennis more seriously in his teenage years, playing on the Futures Tour for the first time in 2012. Success followed with four titles at that level in 2016 before he reached his first ATP Tour semi-final in Kitzbuhel in 2017. He also advanced to the third round at Wimbledon in the same year.

He was never able to crack the Top 100, though, with injuries plaguing his progress. However, after undergoing an operation on his left heel in 2022, Ofner was finally able to compete on a consistent basis.

The Austrian cites his injury issues as the reason behind his later breakthrough.

“I would say it was probably my injuries that held me back,” Ofner said. “I was struggling a lot after my first injury. The year 2022 I was just playing with painkillers. I played for five or five and a half months and I still ended the year at No. 190. That's when I said, ‘Okay, there is still for sure more possible for me’. Because with less than half a year competing, being in the Top 200 is still amazing.

“I think that's what also clicked a little bit in my head. That the career can be over very quickly. You’re in this tunnel, all the time playing. But if you have what I have been through, time out, you think, ‘Okay, this career can be done fast if you have one injury to another injury and you can't play anymore.’ I think that's where I focused a little bit more when fit also on the practise, on the matches. And I think that's why I got to a level higher, I would say.”

Fit and healthy, Ofner began to find rhythm and in 2023 he climbed more than 100 places in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings. The Austrian began the year by reaching three ATP Challenger Tour finals and later enjoyed a breakthrough run to the fourth round at Roland Garros. He also advanced to the semi-finals at the ATP 250 event in Astana, his first tour-level semi-final in six years.

“Paris was the absolute highlight, from qualifying to the fourth round,” Ofner said. “Then I made the Top 100. Then you start getting a little bit more confident. You're going on the court and you're not that afraid anymore if you play against better players.

“And then you start to get into this circle. In Astana, the ATP tournament, it was the first semi-final for six years. With all that stuff together, at the end of this past year I said, ‘Okay, I think I'm able to play with the guys and hopefully stay there for a long time.”

Away from tennis Ofner enjoys gaming and most sport. But recently he tested out his adventurous side in Egypt.

“What I really like to do is play video games,” Ofner said. “When I'm at home, I have a couple of friends and with them, I play a lot. It's mostly Call of Duty. I also like to go out with friends because if you're on the Tour, you're not home a lot.

“I'm a relaxed guy, a funny guy. But if I want something, I'm pretty focused and straight on that. But in general, I would say I'm pretty relaxed. The coolest thing I have done is swimming with dolphins. It was this year in Egypt.”

For now, Ofner will keep his head on tennis and in Melbourne, where he takes on Australian Thanasi Kokkinakis on Tuesday in the first round on his main-draw debut.