Jan-Lennard Struff secured the biggest win of his late-career resurgence at the Swiss Indoors on Thursday evening, defeating Grand Slam record champion Novak Djokovic 6:7 (4:7), 7:5, 7:6 (7:5) in a gripping 2-hour, 36-minute second-round battle in Basel, as reported by ntv.de.
The 36-year-old German converted his third matchball to claim his first-ever victory against the Serbian star in nine career meetings. The hard-fought triumph propels Struff into the Basel quarterfinals, where he will face Portugal’s Nuno Borges.
How Struff Overcame Djokovic in Basel
Playing before an electric crowd at the St. Jakobshalle, both players locked horns in a high-intensity contest from the opening point. Djokovic captured a tight first-set tiebreak to edge ahead, but Struff refused to fold. Delivering brilliant, aggressive tennis in the second set, the German saved all four break points he faced. He then broke Djokovic’s serve for the first time in the match at 6:5 to snatch the second set 7:5.
That single set win marked a notable milestone for Struff. Across eight prior encounters with Djokovic, he had managed to take just one set total.
Deciding Tiebreak and Frustration on Court
The high level of play continued unabated into the third and deciding set. Djokovic grew visibly frustrated as the match slipped away, at one point engaging in heated discussions with his coach, Viktor Troicki. Meanwhile, Struff calmly fended off another crucial break point and held firm on his own serve.
With nothing to separate them, the match went to a second tiebreak. This time, Struff held his nerve under intense pressure to seal the 7:6 (7:5) tiebreak victory and complete the upset. I can’t believe it. Incredible!
Struff said after the match, acknowledging that he had lost all previous meetings against the Serb while admitting that the tight finish required a touch of luck.
Struff’s Spätform and Altmaier’s Exit
The victory in Basel caps a strong run of late-season form for Struff, who recently reached the final at the ATP tournament in Brussels. He opened his Basel campaign earlier in the week by defeating compatriot and Davis Cup teammate Yannick Hanfmann 6:4, 6:3.
While Struff advanced, fellow German Daniel Altmaier saw his run in Basel end in the second round. The 28-year-old from Kempen fell to the tournament’s eighth-seeded Czech player Jiří Lehečka 5:7, 4:6, missing out on a second quarterfinal appearance. Altmaier remains in contention for the final open spot on the German Davis Cup team ahead of the upcoming final tournament in Bologna, scheduled for November 24 through 29.
Quarterfinal Showdown in Switzerland
Jan-Lennard Struff returns to the court to face Nuno Borges in the Basel quarterfinals, carrying the momentum of his historic breakthrough win against Djokovic.
Worth a look
