Jan-Lennard Struff - The wait goes on
Again nothing came of it with Jan-Lennard Struff's first tournament victory. Chances for this would have been available at the ATP Tour 250 event in Cagliari.
by tennisnet.com
last edit: Apr 10, 2021, 07:24 am
The scene on Friday evening in Cagliari can be classified as romantic, depending on your mood. Or as bleak. Jan-Lennard Struff may well have interpreted it in the latter direction, because the German Davis Cup player failed once again before his time in a tournament. This time in three sets against Nikoloz Basilashvili.
Struff is now 30 years old, is currently in 41st position in the ATP world rankings, last August he was briefly among the top 30 on the ATP tour. These are wonderful references, plus an official prize money of 6.5 million US dollars. But what is still missing: a tournament victory in individual on the ATP tour. Or at least a finale. Jan-Lennard Struff has already struck three times in doubles, most recently in 2019 in Metz with the Swede Robert Lindstedt.
Struff in Monte Carlo against Dimitrov
In the single it still says: please wait. The tournament in Cagliari was a good opportunity for Struff, even if the ashes are not his preferred ground. But there was no player in the entire tableau that Struff should have hidden from. Good: Nikoloz Basilashvili has already won in Doha this year, defeating Roger Federer there (after defending a match ball). But the Georgian is also within Struff's reach.
Just like Jeremy Chardy, against whom Germany's number two lost in the quarter-finals in Antalya at the beginning of the year in the tie-break of the third set. Also a tournament in which Jan-Lennard Struff could really have started.
Whether this will succeed in the coming week, however, is questionable: In Monte Carlo, with the exception of Dominic Thiem, the entire world class is represented. And with G rigor Dimitrov , Struff has drawn an opponent who belongs on the top shelf of world tennis on good days.