Oscar Otte (German pronunciation:[ˈɔskaʁˈʔɔtə]; born 16 July 1993) is a German professional tennis player. He has been ranked as high as world No. 36 in singles by the Association of Tennis Professionals (ATP), which he achieved on 27 June 2022, and has a career-high doubles ranking of world No. 161, attained in May 2017.
Since turning professional in 2011, Otte has won 23 singles and doubles titles on the ITF World Tennis Tour and seven on the ATP Challenger Tour. After several years of failing to qualify for most Grand Slam tournaments, he produced consistency in 2021 by entering into three consecutive main draws and showed his best performance at a major at the 2021 US Open, where he upset 20th seed Lorenzo Sonego in the first round and ultimately reached the fourth round. In January 2022, he made his top 100 debut in the singles rankings and emerged into the top 50 five months later, following his first career ATP 500 semifinal at the 2022 Halle Open.
Tennis career
2017: First Challenger title
Otte made a remarkable run at the Qingdao Challenger, where he reached the final both in the singles (as a qualifier) and in the doubles tournament.[1]
He won his first singles match on the ATP Tour at the Stockholm Open, defeating Jürgen Zopp in the first round.
Otte qualified again for the main draw at the 2019 French Open as a lucky loser and reached the second round by defeating Malek Jaziri. He lost in the second round to 3rd seed Roger Federer.
2021: Three consecutive Major qualifications, US Open fourth round
Otte started his 2021 season at the Australian Open. He lost in the first round of qualifying to 12th seed Roman Safiullin.
Otte qualified for the main draw at the French Open for the third time in his career. He lost to compatriot Alexander Zverev in the first round, despite winning the first two sets.[3]
In June, Otte qualified for the Wimbledon main draw for the first time in his career.[4] In the first round, Otte won only the second-ever fifth-set 12–12 singles tiebreak since that rule was implemented in 2019, defeating fellow qualifier Arthur Rinderknech 4–6, 6–3, 6–2, 6–7(5–7), 13–12(7–2) in almost 4 hours over two days.[5][6] In the second round, Otte was defeated by Andy Murray in a five-set match on Centre Court, 6–3, 4–6, 4–6, 6–4, 6–2.[7]
Ranked No. 144, Otte saved match points in the first two rounds of the qualifying competition[8] at the US Open before qualifying for his third-consecutive Grand Slam main draw in 2021.[9][10] He reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam for the first time in his career, defeating 20th seed Lorenzo Sonego, Denis Kudla, and Andreas Seppi, before losing to sixth seed Matteo Berrettini.[11][12][13] Otte was the third of a trio of qualifiers (alongside Peter Gojowczyk and Botic van de Zandschulp) who reached the fourth round of the US Open since the tournament began keeping qualifying records in 1982 and the lowest-ranked at this Major since No. 179 Jiří Novák in 2006. It also marked the first time since the 1995 French Open that three male qualifiers reached the second week of a Major.[14]
2022: Two ATP 250 and ATP 500 semifinals, top-20 wins, top 40 debut
In February, Otte competed at the first edition of the Dallas Open. He lost in the first round to American wildcard Jack Sock.[16] At the Delray Beach Open, he was eliminated in the second round by top seed, world No. 13, and eventual champion, Cam Norrie.[17] Getting past qualifying at the Mexican Open, he was beaten in the first round by eighth seed and world No. 17, Pablo Carreño Busta.[18] In Indian Wells, he lost in the second round to 11th seed, Hubert Hurkacz, in three sets.[19] At the Arizona Classic, he was defeated in the first round by Radu Albot. At the Miami Open, he was ousted from the tournament in the second round by 22nd seed and world No. 24, Gaël Monfils.[20]
Otte started his clay-court season at the Monte-Carlo Masters. Entering the main draw as a lucky loser, he lost in the first round to qualifier Emil Ruusuvuori.[21] At the Serbia Open, he upset fourth seed and last year finalist, Aslan Karatsev, in the second round.[22] He lost in the quarterfinals to sixth seed Fabio Fognini.[23] At his next tournament in Munich, he beat third seed and world No. 17, Reilly Opelka, in the second round to claim his first top-20 win.[24] He defeated lucky loser, Alejandro Tabilo, in the quarterfinals to reach his first ATP Tour-level semifinal.[25] He fell in his semifinal match to wildcard Holger Rune, who would end up winning the tournament.[26] At the Lyon Open, he lost in the second round to seventh seed Sebastián Báez.[27] Ranked 59 at the French Open, he lost in the first round to Roberto Carballés Baena in five sets.[28]
Otte started his grass-court season at the BOSS Open in Stuttgart. He beat fourth seed and world No. 16, Denis Shapovalov, in the second round for his second top-20 win and biggest in his career thus far.[29] He reached the semifinals of a tournament for the second time this season and lost to second seed and world No. 10, Matteo Berrettini, who would win the title.[30] As a result of his Stuttgart run, Otte received a Special Exempt into the Halle Open. There on his debut, he defeated Miomir Kecmanović and Nikoloz Basilashvili to reach the quarterfinals of an ATP 500 tournament for the first time in his career.[31][32] He then beat eighth seed and world No. 23, Karen Khachanov, to advance to his third consecutive semifinal on home soil.[33] In the semifinals, he lost to top seed and eventual finalist, Daniil Medvedev.[34] Due to a great result in Halle, his ranking improved from 51 to 36. At Wimbledon, he reached the third round for the first time in his career and lost to rising star, fifth seed, and world No. 7, Carlos Alcaraz.[35]
After Wimbledon, Otte announced that he underwent an arthroscopy on the inner meniscus of his left knee.[36][37] In August, he announced that he was fit and would be ready for New York.[38] Ranked No. 41 at the US Open, he lost in the first round to eighth seed and world No. 10, Hubert Hurkacz.[39]
Otte then represented Germany in the Davis Cup Group stage. Germany was in Group C alongside France, Belgium, and Australia. Against France, he lost to Adrian Mannarino.[40] Against Belgium, he was defeated by David Goffin.[41] Against Australia, he lost to Thanasi Kokkinakis.[42] In the end, Germany defeated France 2–1, Belgium 2–1, and Australia 2–1 to qualify for the knockout stage.[43]
Otte qualified for the 2023 Wimbledon Championships and defeated compatriot Dominik Koepfer before losing to Daniel Elahi Galán in the second round. He injured his knee during the tournament and underwent surgery in August 2023.[44] Ranked No. 474, Otte competed in his first tour-level event since having surgery at the 2024 Halle Open. He received a wildcard for the qualifying competition where he defeated fourth seed Jakub Menšík and sixth seed Constant Lestienne. In the main draw, he lost in the first round to second seed Alexander Zverev in three sets.[45]
Performance timelines
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
DNQ
A
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.