SEBASTIAN OFNER celebrated too early and then lost his Australian Open qualifier in one of the most painful tournament exits imaginable.
The Austrian, 29, walked towards the net fist-pumping while pointing to his temple after going 7-1 up in a third-set tie-break against Nishesh Basavareddy.
It was only when the chair umpire reminded Ofner that deciding-set tie-breaks go to 10 points that he returned to the baseline.
The world No131 must still have felt confident of seeing out the match with such a wide advantage in the race to 10.
But he was evidently shaken by the mistake – and Basavareddy picked an opportune moment to mount his comeback.
The American, 20, won the next three points to make it 7-4.
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Ofner then edged closer to victory when Basavareddy sliced into the net.
But thoughts of a remarkable fightback became a reality when Basavareddy won the next five points to go 9-8 ahead.
Incredibly, Ofner then earned his first legitimate match point of the contest when the next two rallies went his way.
He couldn’t take it, and after manufacturing a second match point, he fumbled that as well.
Basavareddy then found an extra gear to force the two-point margin he needed and win the match 4-6 6-4 7-6 (13-11) with a successful net approach.
He brutally rubbed salt in Ofner’s wounds by performing a choking gesture in reference to the near-certain victory he let slip through his fingers.
Basavareddy said: “In a super tie-break, you always have a chance, so I kept believing.
“I saw him tense up a little bit, but the balls were quite old there, so every rally was a war.”
Basavareddy will battle British tennis star George Loffhagen in the final round of qualifying for a spot in the main Australian Open draw.
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