The mental strains of tennis are so often etched on its players’ faces, in expressions of agony, anger, frustration, even a wry smile, as fortune collapses all around them.
When they etched themselves onto Sebastian Ofner’s face in the second round of Australian Open qualifying, the effect was rather strange. He was grinning.
Ofner, the 29-year-old Austrian with a booming serve, was up 6-1 in a third-set tiebreak against Nishesh Basavareddy of the U.S. when Basavareddy sent a forehand long to give Ofner a 7-1 lead. Ofner raised his hands in celebration and pumped his fists, walking toward the center of the court for a handshake with his vanquished opponent and a place in the third, final round of qualifying for the first Grand Slam of the year secure. He even pointed to his head, to show how he had managed the mental pressure of the match.
Sebastian Ofner thought he had won his Australian Open qualifying match. He had not. (Eurosport)
Except, it wasn’t secure. Match tiebreaks on the ATP Tour are played first to 7 points, with a lead of at least 2 points. But at Grand Slams, even in qualifying, they are played to 10 points. Ofner still needed three. Basavareddy needed at least nine. Surely that would be enough?
You can probably guess how this story ends.
Tennis requires immense focus, sometimes so much that players, even the best, forget the score or which side they have to serve from next. Those moments tend to be fleeting, and they tend to happen mid-match — not on the would-be deciding point. Ofner, who had experienced all the release of a match being won, suddenly had to win it a second time over.
He couldn’t do it, and there was plenty more time for pain. Basavareddy got back to 7-4 before Ofner nicked a point for 8-4. The 20-year-old American then reeled off 5 points in a row to lead 9-8, giving himself a match point — 9 points after Ofner thought he had converted one. The Austrian saved it, of course. Then Ofner got another match point of his own.
Basavareddy saved it, of course. Ofner got another one, two points later. Basavareddy saved it. Of course.
And then, at 12-11 to Basavareddy, he forced Ofner deep into his backhand corner, snuck forward and stabbed a volley short that the Austrian gave up on before it left Basavareddy’s racket.
Ready, Reddy, GO into Round 3 of #AO26 Qualifying after a marathon tie-breaker 👌@wwos • @espn • @tntsports • @wowowtennis • #AO26 pic.twitter.com/3XoKJNXV6M
— #AusOpen (@AustralianOpen) January 14, 2026
The match was over, again. As Basavareddy clasped his hands to his own throat in a not-so-veiled illustration of his view on what just happened, Ofner walked toward the center of the court for a handshake, again. Sixteen points after he had celebrated victory 3 points early, he was out, on the wrong side of a 4-6, 6-4, 7-6(13-11) loss.
This time, the mental strains of tennis etched on his face looked more like they normally do.