Tennis player exits Australian Open qualifying after celebrating victory too early

Sebastian Ofner made a sorry exit from Australian Open qualifying after forgetting the rules and celebrating victory early – before going on to lose the match.

The Austrian thought he had clinched victory over Nishesh Basavareddy at 7-1 in the third-set tie-break and raised his arms in celebration, pointing at his head as he walked towards the net to shake hands with his American opponent.

However, final-set tie-breaks are played to 10 points, meaning he still needed another three points to win.

Ofner only realised his mistake when the umpire briefly spoke to him.

Basavareddy then reeled off eight of the next nine points on the way to winning 4-6 6-4 7-6 (13-11) and advancing to the final round of qualifying at Melbourne Park.

The 20-year-old held his hands to his neck in a ‘choking’ gesture before letting out a roar of celebration.

“In a super [match] tie-break, you always have a chance, so I kept believing,” Basavareddy told the Australian Open website.

“I saw him tense up a little bit, but the balls were quite old there, so every rally was a war.”

Basavareddy will face Britain’s George Loffhagen for a place in the Australian Open main draw.

Loffhagen was leading the qualifying eighth seed Yoshihito Nishioka 6-3 3-1 when the Japanese player retired with an injury.

Britain’s Arthur Fery beat Australian former world number 17 Bernard Tomic 6-4 6-2 to set up a meeting with Croatia’s Dino Prizmic.

But Harriet Dart’s hopes are over after she lost a deciding third set to Thailand’s Lanlana Tararudee in a 6-0 3-6 6-3 defeat.

Cameron Norrie and Jacob Fearnley are already in the men’s main draw, while Emma Raducanu, Francesca Jones, Sonay Kartal and Katie Boulter will feature in the women’s singles.

The tournament begins on Sunday, 18 January.

Earlier, British number two Norrie was denied a quarter-final place at the Auckland Classic by Frenchman Giovanni Mpetshi Perricard.

World number 28 Norrie, a two-time runner-up at the event, had a match point in the 10th game of the third set but fell to a 4-6 6-3 7-6 (7-4) defeat.