French Open: Quarter-finals - Novak Djokovic too strong for Jan-Lennard Struff
Novak Djokovic has confidently entered the quarter-finals of the French Open 2019. The world ranking leader gave Jan-Lennard Struff no chance at 6: 3, 6: 2 and 6: 2.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jun 03, 2019, 02:41 pm
By Jens Huiber from Paris
The good news right from the start: Jan-Lennard Struff was able to enter Court Philippe Chatrier in proper footwear. At Eurosport, Struff had said that two pairs of shoes had been stolen from him during the French Open. However, what should restrict the perpetrators: hardly anyone lives on a similar footing as the Warsteiner.
And lately Struff is also playing with the really big ones. Most recently against Rafael Nadal in Barcelona, the 29-year-old had shown very good approaches, against Novak Djokovic it was now in the first round of the last 16 appearance at a Grand Slam tournament at all, also not out of round. The fact that the world number one was able to prevail after a season of 1:33 hours with 6: 3, 6: 2 and 6: 2 should not spoil the overall picture of Jan-Lennard Struff's appearance in Paris 2019.
View of Paire and Nishikori
Struff has let himself be carried away to the tennis court more and more emotions in the past weeks, pushed himself already in the second game with a "Let's go!". Djokovic initially looked at his opponent calmly. And was there when needed. For example, in the eighth game of set one, which the industry leader concentrated on. After 33 minutes there was a 6: 3 on the scoreboard.
At this point in time, the audience's attention was drawn to the score displayed by Court Suzanne Lenglen - where Benoit Paire was preparing to turn the match against Kei Nishikori that ended on Sunday. That was out of the question in the largest stadium of the Stade Roland Garros. After 61 minutes Novak Djokovic also won round two, this time 6-2.
Djokovic with an early break
The change in the weather had not necessarily put Struff on the cards: from Sunday to Monday, the temperatures had dropped by about ten degrees, and the courts were much slower to play. The suspicion is obvious: Novak Djokovic would have been too strong in this match under all circumstances. Even if Struff didn't notice the strains of the five-set game against Borna Coric. But Djokovic is still a class above Coric: Apart from the fact that the 31-year-old Belgrade doesn't give any free points, Djokovic can exert such pressure from the baseline that only a few players on the tour can cope with it.
# BETATHOMEFOWIN #
The early break in the third set set the course for Novak Djokovic to win - the only question was whether the match could be ended without interrupting the rain. In this regard, number one in the world wanted to leave no doubt - and, to be on the safe side, came back to the court a few seconds earlier when the drizzle started. The reason why Struff got another break at 2: 5 was more due to one temporary inattention of Djokovics. But he made it to the quarter-finals after 93 minutes.
For Jan-Lennard Struff, the trip to the second major of the year paid off. Not only financially Struff will appear among the top 40 professionals in the ATP world rankings for the first time from Monday.