Don't celebrate too early.
That's the lesson that Austrian tennis player Sebastian Ofner learned earlier this week at the Australian Open.
He found himself in a tiebreak during qualifying with American player Nishesh Basavareddy.
Ofner stormed ahead in the tiebreak, taking a 7-1 lead.
He celebrated like he won the match.
But turns out, tiebreaks at that stage go to 10 points, not seven.
Basavareddy proceeded to put together a monster comeback and won it, 13-11.
He won the qualifying match 4-6, 6-4, 7-6 (13-11) to keep his time playing in Australia alive.
He also let Ofner know he had messed up:
Wild scenes in Australian Open qualifying
— The Tennis Letter (@TheTennisLetter) January 14, 2026
Ofner celebrates because he thinks he won the match at 7-1 in the tiebreak
The umpire reminds him it’s a 10 point tiebreak “Not done yet mate”
Basavareddy wins the match & does the choke celebration
😭😭😭😭
pic.twitter.com/cRL1YRgJi6
That's quite ruthless. Kick the man while he's down, why don't you?
It's certainly incredible resilience from Basavareddy to come all the way back and preserve his tournament.
But ouch, that's painful to watch from Ofner's perspective. From ecstasy to agony, very quickly.
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