ATP Halle: Jan-Lennard Struff - "I want to play the match against Roger Federer!"
Jan-Lennard Struff and Philipp Kohlschreiber have reached the round of 16 of the ATP Tour 500 tournament in HalleWestfalen. Solvable tasks are now waiting for both of them.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jun 15, 2021, 08:09 pm
By Jens Huiber from HalleWestfalen
The distances in HalleWestfalen are known to be very short. And the arrangement of the two largest courts is reminiscent of the glory days at the US Open. Just like in New York City, where the Louis Armstrong Stadium was once connected to the legendary Grandstand, the very fine Court 1 also adjoins the Center Court in Halle. The top German delegation with sports director Klaus Eberhard and Davis Cup boss Michael Kohlmann was basically able to observe in parallel how Jan-Lennard Struff and Philipp Kohlschreiber made it to the second round of the best-attended German tennis tournament.
Kohlschreiber's progress should not be seen as a big surprise, even if his opponent Jurij Rodionov reached the semi-finals in Stuttgart last week. Kohlschreiber is an experienced, shrewd lawn player who has already won the title in Halle. Rodionov may be on the way up but slightly injured his hip in the quarter-finals in Stuttgart. The 6: 4, 6: 3 in favor of the long-standing German number one can be described as performance-based, Kohlschreiber is now playing against Corentin Moutet. Not a terrifying prospect.
Especially since things have changed for the better for Philipp Kohlschreiber when it comes to the Olympics. Due to the early retirement of Yannick Hanfmann last week, "Kohli" is number four in the internal German ranking, so it could be nominated by the DTB. If his Protected Ranking is good enough for a place in the main draw.
Struff beats Medvedev for the first time
Jan-Lennard Struff doesn't have to worry about this, the Warsteiner is sure to be there in Tokyo. Struff does not yet know whether only in singles or in pair skating, the regulations as to who is allowed to play for Olympic gold in doubles are not easy to see through. Which didn't stop Jan-Lennard Struff from presenting these regulations to the letter at his press conference. Alexander Zverev, Tim Pütz and Kevin Krawietz would be there as possible partners.
In Halle, Struff is allowed to continue individually. In his previous encounters with Daniil Medvedev, he would not have known what to do, and the initial phase in Halle did not suggest anything good. Medvedev made an early break, played a sloppy service game at 5: 3 and still could have won the first set. If Struff hadn't made it long with the set ball for the top seeded Russian, had the backhand volley drip into the field with many good wishes and even more frames.
The next task after the 7: 6 (6) and 6: 3 against Medvedev is also to be solved for the local hero: Marcos Giron, after that Roger Federer could wait. An opportunity that Jan-Lennard Struff does not want to miss. Especially since he narrowly failed in Roland Garros just before a duel with Rafael Nadal against Diego Schwartzman. That shouldn't happen to him now: “I want to play this match.” However, Federer also has to reach the quarter-finals first. For the maestro goes against Stuttgart finalist Félix Auger-Aliassime, who beat his doubles partner Hubert Hurkacz 6: 3 and 7: 5.
Here the single tableau in Halle
hall map