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Tennis Player's Early Celebration Backfires Dramatically
14 Jan
Summary
- A player celebrated victory prematurely after a tiebreaker lead.
- The opponent capitalized on the mistake to win the match.
- The umpire had to correct the player on tiebreaker rules.
In a dramatic turn of events at the Australian Open qualifiers on Wednesday, Austrian tennis player Sebastian Ofner learned a harsh lesson about celebrating too soon. Ofner raised his arms in victory and walked toward the net prematurely after securing a 7-1 advantage in the decisive tiebreaker against American opponent Nishesh Basavareddy.
The chair umpire intervened, reminding the 29-year-old that the match was not over and that a super tiebreaker requires winning by two points with a minimum of 10 points. This correction allowed Basavareddy to regroup and eventually win the match 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (11) after Ofner had two match points.
Basavareddy, 20, commented that Ofner's visible tension after the score mishap likely led to overthinking. The American now advances to face George Loffhagen for a spot in the main draw, a significant step given his previous performance against Novak Djokovic last year. Ofner, ranked 131st, has yet to win a main-draw match at the Australian Open.
