Andrey Rublev put in a very strong performance in his first round match against qualifier Sebastian Ofner (Austria) on the grass in Halle. The final score was 6:3, 6:4 as he served superbly.
The beginning of the match was reminiscent of the 1994 Wimbledon final, when Pete Sampras and Goran Ivanisevic faced each other. It was a festival of serves, which the American ultimately decided in his favour. Hardly any rallies, the serve of Andrey Rublev and Sebastian Ofner dominated the action on the grass. Over the course of the first set, however, the current world no. 14 managed to read his opponent's serve better and better. As a result, Andrey Rublev also had his first break chances. While he missed the first two, he finally managed to break for 5:3 with his third chance. Five points later, set one was 6:3 to the fourth seeded Rublev.
Sebastian Ofner was also unable to hold his serve in the second set. In the ominous seventh game, Andrey Rublev clearly showed who was master of the centre court. He took the Austrian's serve to zero and, as in the first set, Sebastian Ofner didn't even get within reach of a break chance. So this first round match was over after just 62 minutes: 6:3, 6:4 for Andrey Rublev.
Remarkable: Andrey Rublev only allowed his opponent a maximum of one point in his ten service games. With this rate, he can dream of winning the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN title after two appearances in the final (2021 and 2023).
