It was a match of twists and turns, but the final verdict was clear: Hubert Hurkacz saw off Sebastian Ofner 7:6, 6:4, 6:4 in the second round at Wimbledon on 1 July 2026. After 1 hour and 57 minutes, the Pole converted his first match point to book his place in the third round. For Ofner, the defeat brought Austria's 2026 Wimbledon campaign to a close — he had been the country's last remaining singles representative in the draw.
Tiebreak settles an evenly contested opening set
The first set was largely a level affair. Both players held serve with ease and not a single break was made. At 4-4, Ofner even earned three break points — but Hurkacz saved all of them, two with aces. The Pole, who fired 16 aces across the match to keep his opponent constantly under pressure, refused to be rattled. The tiebreak produced a nerve-shredding contest: both players squandered two set points apiece before Hurkacz eventually edged it 10-8.
Back-to-back breaks in the second set tip the match in Hurkacz's favour
The second set was a far more one-sided affair. Ofner suffered two consecutive breaks and quickly found himself 1-4 down. He did break back to make it 4-5 and saved a set point at that score, but Hurkacz kept his nerve and served out the set 6-4. The serving statistics underlined the Pole's dominance: he won 88 percent of points on his first serve and landed it in at a rate of 71 percent.
Hurkacz lands the decisive blow in the third set
Ofner refused to go away in the third set. Play remained level until 3-3, before Hurkacz struck the decisive break at 5-4 — recovering from 0-30 down to reel off four consecutive points. That was the moment Austrian resistance crumbled. Ofner simply had no answer to his opponent's booming serve on return, something he freely acknowledged after the match: Hurkacz had served at an exceptional level on the day.
That said, Ofner had shown plenty of quality — posting 40 winners and holding serve in 81 percent of his service games. But a return points won figure of just 26 percent proved to be the crucial difference. The head-to-head between the two now stands at 3-0 in Hurkacz's favour, with the Pole completing a third straight win over the Austrian.
The victory carried added significance for Hurkacz personally: it was his first appearance on the Wimbledon lawns since picking up an injury at the 2024 edition, where he had entered the tournament seeded seventh. Having slipped to world ranking 96, he demonstrated on these hallowed courts that he remains a dangerous proposition on grass. Standing between him and the quarterfinal is Tommy Paul, the 21st seed from the United States.
