Ofner's Neverending Misery

Things are not getting better for the Austrian...

Yes, nothing is going right for Ofner. His last match will not have helped his confidence at all, losing from a set and break up against Kopriva in Winston-Salem, now that's a bad loss! Ruud has not been too good himself since returning from injury after RG. He lost his last match in Cincinnati against a player he had been very comfortable with in the past, Rinderknech. Although it should be noted that Rinderknech had more suitable conditions (faster, non-clay) to beat him this time. Still, we can see that Ruud has not really returned to his peak level just yet!

Normally, this matchup might present a few issues for Ruud, since Ofner is quite a big hitter. However, due to Ofner's lack of confidence and his very one-dimensional game, I think this is a very tough task for Ofner at the moment. Even while not at his best, Ruud can pretty much do everything that Ofner does but better. Ruud tends to perform quite well early on in slams, and I like the fact that he advanced far in the mixed doubles event. I'm not taking a lot from it based on the matches themselves, but more so the fact that he seems comfortable and in a good mood. Ofner's slump won't last forever, but I think facing Ruud in a Grand Slam opening round won't be the right moment...