Thiem's 7: Jan-Lennard Struff leaves Kitzbühel with question marks
Jan-Lennard Struff's journey continues to Berlin after his close departure at Thiem's 7. The German number two was able to playfully convince in Tyrol. And had a lot to say.
by Jens Huiber
last edit: Jul 10, 2020, 07:39 am
By Jens Huiber from Kitzbühel
Jan-Lennard Struff likes to come to Kitzbühel, the Warsteiner emphasizes this not only at the foot of the Kitzbüheler Horn. Even if the German number two did not make the trip to Tyrol last year, preferred to try it in Washington. With modest success, but as good preparation for the subsequent hard court tournaments in the USA: Struff beat Stefanos Tsitsipas in Cincinnati almost a year ago . He kept up with the Greeks to the bitter end a few months ago, having had to give up in the quarter-finals in Dubai.
In Kitzbühel, Struff failed at Dominic Thiem's invitation tournament in the preliminary round, the host personally said goodbye on Thursday. The two will see each other again soon. Struff, like Thiem, is one of the fixed starters at the lawn-hard court combination event in Berlin. After the cancellations of Alexander Zverev and Nick Kyrgios, two places are still open, organizer Edwin Weindorfer is happy to accept voluntary reports. Prerequisites, however: a lowest possible two-digit ranking in the ATP charts. And minimal desire for public parties, where in doubt people dance upstairs without limbo. Karen Khachanov appears to be a serious candidate.
Struff presented himself strongly in Kitzbühel 2020, literally had the win against Andrey Rublev on the racket at the start. And sunk in the net with volleyball. On the second day, there was an undisputed victory against Casper Ruud, two short periods of inattention against Thiem were enough to leave the court as losers.
Struff still knows too little
Jan-Lennard Struff is not inclined towards escapades like the ones mentioned above, unless the glorious 1909 Borussia ball game club, based in Dortmund, gives cause for joy. Struff came to the small press conference with tennisnet and Gerald Kleffmann from the Süddeutsche Zeitung on Tuesday, wearing a strapless shirt. The future beyond Berlin is uncertain for Struff, who does not feel adequately informed by the ATP.
"When the news came that the US Open and the tournaments before it were taking place, I was very happy about it," said Struff. "That was another goal that I could work towards." But: "I cannot say now that we have received so much information here that I could say: I can get an optimal picture of it." It was not so long now - and about the tournament in Washington with a planned start on August 14, he hadn't seen a fact sheet yet, nothing. "There are still so many question marks."
Zverev disadvantaged, Berrettini with advantages
Struff also has a clear opinion on the recently presented ATP ranking model. “When I read that for the first time, I thought: Ok, that's a very decent model. You can never please all players anyway. Like an Alexander Zverev who played at the Australian Open semi-finals and then has to defend those points again. On the other hand, Matteo Berrettini doesn't have to defend his US Open semi-finals and has it in there until next year. But in general it sounds pretty good. Because this means that nobody is forced to play who may not want it for health reasons. "
Which is not the case with Jan-Lennard Struff. He is really hot for the restart of the ATP tour, hopefully in August. The Warsteiner is even hotter only on information from his player representative as to how this resumption should look.
Of course, Struff also has to answer the question of who is traveling with him. Physiotherapist Uwe Liedtke and coach Carsten Arriens are present in Kitzbühel. Struff has only been training more intensively with the latter in the recent past. Different from the beginning of the Corona period. "Even if I am doing well financially, you have to see, of course: If I would now work with Carsten five days a week, this would result in costs. But we quickly said that it would make no sense to work together every day. And then we varied: sometimes once a week, then again three times. The way we felt. "
Who will then work alongside Struff in New York City does not only depend on the wishes of the player. There is still a quantitative limitation by the organizers, the USTA, in the room.