Jan-Lennard Struff is currently playing his best tennis. Inspired by his first tournament victory a week ago, the Warsteiner is also playing big in Madrid. On Tuesday (11 a.m.) – like a year ago – Carlos Alcaraz is waiting.
It was one of the very special tournaments for Jan-Lennard Struff: At the ATP tournament in Madrid last year, Struff almost caused a big sensation. The Warsteiner started the tournament as a lucky loser, knocked out the top 10 player Stefanos Tsitsipas, among others, and then had a thrilling match with Carlos Alcaraz in the final.
Round of 16 against Alcaraz
“It was an incredible time, very special,” said Struff about the magical moments of the past year in the “Magic Box”. In the end, Struff narrowly lost the final in three sets.
Almost a year later, Struff meets Alcaraz again, again in Madrid. This time, however, not in the final, but in the round of the last 16. He is currently impressively proving that Struff can beat big names this year.
First tournament win for Struff
On the way to his first tournament victory a week ago in Munich, the 34-year-old sensationally defeated world number 12 Holger Rune (6:2, 6:0) and then number 13 Taylor Fritz (7:5, 6) in the final :3). “Absolutely crazy, it feels very good. Winning this in front of German fans means a lot to me. It was a very, very important victory for me emotionally,” said Struff after the biggest success of his career.
Struff wins ATP tournament in Munich Pfeil right Triumph in the final – Struff also beats Fritz Pfeil right
Things are just going well at the moment for the late starter, who has been in the tennis circus since 2009 and had to wait so long for his first triumph. In Madrid on Sunday, Struff won in the round of 32 against the world number 14. Ugo Humbert confidently in two sets (7:5, 6:4).
For Struff it was the sixth match in a row without losing a set. Of nine games on clay this year, Struff has only lost one. In the third round in Montecarlo he had to admit defeat to world number two, Jannik Sinner. Despite everything, Struff is the clear outsider against Alcaraz, third in the world rankings.
Starker Struff moves into the round of 16 at the ATP Masters in Madrid with an arrow on the right
Zverev for the first time against Cerundolo
Unlike Struff, Germany’s number one Alexander Zverev is the favorite in the round of 16. The Olympic champion meets the Argentinian Francisco Cerundolo, whom Zverev has never met on the ATP tour.
Previously, the 27-year-old had the Canadian Dennis Shapovalov well after midnight. The match in the “Caja Magica” didn’t start until 11 p.m. But the Hamburger didn’t show any weakness and continued a strange winning streak with the confident 6:4, 7:5 win against the 132nd in the world.
The world number five has a record of 17-0 against left-handers since the French Open 2022, when he suffered a serious injury in the semifinals against Rafael Nadal. “My brother Mischa is left-handed, so I grew up with one. We trained together every day. I think that’s the main reason,” said Zverev when asked about the cause. With Cerundolo a right-hander is now waiting.
