Jan-Lennard Struff

[Damian]

Germany’s Struff earned the biggest win of his season when he downed two-time defending champion Holger Rune 6-2, 6-0 to reach the final in Munich for the second time.

Roared on by a vocal home crowd, Struff blasted Rune off the court with his power to reach his first final of the season. The 33-year-old, who completed his 7-5, 6-4 quarter-final win against Felix Auger-Aliassime earlier on Saturday, won 96 per cent (24/25) of his first-serve points to advance after just 45 minutes.

Struff is seeking his maiden tour-level title this week. He is up four spots to No. 24 in the PIF ATP Live Rankings.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/munich- ... urday-2024

[Damian]

[Damian]

[Damian]

Superb Struff downs Fritz in Munich for first ATP Tour title

Spoiler:

33-year-old is third-oldest first-time champion in ATP Tour history
April 21, 2024
Extended Highlights: Struff beats Fritz for Munich 2024 title
Watch extended Sunday highlights from the BMW Open, where Jan-Lennard Struff overcame Taylor Fritz to clinch his maiden ATP Tour crown. Watch live & on demand at TennisTV.com.

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Jan-Lennard Struff defeats Taylor Fritz to win the BMW Open in Munich.
By ATP Staff
Jan-Lennard Struff banished past championship-match heartache in style on Sunday at the BMW Open in Munich.

The German overcame World No. 15 Taylor Fritz 7-5, 6-3 to lift his maiden ATP Tour title at the clay-court ATP 250. The fourth-seeded Struff entered the final with an 0-3 record in tour-level finals, but he showed no sign of nerves in front of his home fans en route to sealing a 79-minute triumph.

“[It feels] unbelievable, and to do it on home soil is just incredible,” said Struff in his post-match interview. “I waited so long. I’m 33 years old and played so long on Tour. It’s just an amazing feeling to do it here in Germany.”


Aged 33 years and 11 months, Struff became the third-oldest first-time champion since the ATP Tour was established in 1990. The pivotal moments in Struff’s victory came in the first set, when he faced two set points on his own serve at 4-5, 15/40, and then another at 40/Ad. From there, the home favourite reeled off 11 points in a row to take the set.

Struff and Fritz’s first Lexus ATP Head2Head clash on clay was played out in damp, cold conditions. The temperature dropped as low as 3 degrees Celsius during the championship match but that did not prevent the German bringing some real fire to the court. Just as he had in his semi-final upset of second seed Holger Rune, Struff used his powerful forehand to dictate rallies against a similarly high-powered opponent.

The home favourite clinched his victory with a powerful smash before immediately raising his arms in celebration to his team. He converted five of 11 break points he earned against Fritz, according to Infosys ATP Stats, to complete a dominant week on home soil in which he did not drop a set.

With his triumph, Struff improved to 16-8 in Munich, where he also reached the final in 2021. The German’s other tour-level finals both came in 2023, when he lost to Carlos Alcaraz as a lucky loser in the Madrid championship match and held a match point against Frances Tiafoe in Stuttgart before also falling to defeat.

"I played good tennis this week, I’m very happy," reflected Struff. "I beat good guys and I’m just unbelievably happy that I did it today.”

Struff will on Monday rise four spots to No. 24 in the PIF ATP Rankings as a result of his Munich title run, just three spots shy of his career high. He had the chance to add another trophy to his cabinet later on Sunday, when he took to court alongside countryman Andreas Mies in the doubles final against Yuki Bhambri and Albano Olivetti. However, India's Bhambri and Italy's Olivetti triumhped 7-6(6), 7-6(5).

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/fritz-s ... nday-final

[Damian]

First-Time Winner Spotlight: Jan-Lennard Struff

Spoiler:

German emerges victorious aged 33
April 21, 2024
Jan-Lennard Struff defeats Taylor Fritz for the Munich title.Getty Images for BMW Open
Jan-Lennard Struff defeats Taylor Fritz for the Munich title.
By ATP Staff
The smile on Jan-Lennard Struff's face said it all Sunday in Munich. The 33-year-old German had just defeated Taylor Fritz in the final of the BMW Open to win his first ATP Tour title.

By doing so, Struff became the third-oldest first-time ATP Tour titlist since the inception of the Tour in 1990. He is the sixth player to claim his maiden tour-level trophy this season.

ATPTour.com caught up with Struff to discuss the meaning of the moment, those who helped him get there and more.

You May Also Like: Superb Struff downs Fritz in Munich for first ATP Tour title
Oldest First-Time ATP Tour Champions

Player Age Tournament
Paolo Lorenzi 34 years, 7 months 2016 Kitzbühel
Victor Estrella Burgos 34 years, 6 months 2015 Quito
Jan-Lennard Struff 33 years, 11 months 2024 Munich
Wayne Arthurs 33 years, 11 months 2005 Scottsdale
Gilles Muller 33 years, 8 months 2017 Sydney
What does it mean to you to win your first ATP Tour title?
It means a lot. I'm 33 years old, and it's just an incredible feeling. I'm very, very happy and at the same time it gets a big weight off my chest to finally win my first title.

Today you became the third-oldest first-time ATP Tour champion. How proud are you to be playing some of your best tennis aged 33?
I'm very happy because it [shows] I still continue working, and am never quitting. Thanks to my team, to my fitness coach and physio, who's putting so much work in as well as with my tennis coaches, to be able to play good tennis at age 33.

How much more special is it to accomplish this feat at home?
It's so special to win it, the title first of all, and then to do it in Germany. Here in 2021 without crowds. In Stuttgart it was an unbelievable battle last year with [Frances] Tiafoe with a tie-break third set. It was incredible. So [this is] very special for me.

Maiden tour-level title!!!!

Roared on by a vocal home crowd, @Struffitennis fights past Fritz 7-5 6-3 to lift the title in Munich!@BMWOpen24 | #BMWOpen pic.twitter.com/6tDIoJH6gw

— ATP Tour (@atptour)
April 21, 2024
Could you take a moment to acknowledge some of the key figures in your life and career who have helped you to reach this milestone?
First of all my parents who are both tennis coaches. They brought me into tennis when I was a little kid. It's just an incredible feeling. I haven't talked to them yet because there was not that much time after the singles. Carsten [Arriens], Marvin [Netuschil] and Uwe [Liedtke], who worked very hard with me as well, to my old coaches and my family.

Since your parents are both tennis coaches, are there any particular lessons you took from each of them on court?
They always said to have fun, to work hard and never give up. They had this attitude that didn't put that much pressure on me. They just said, 'If you do it, just do it committed'.

You have said your idol was Pete Sampras. What moments do you remember watching as a kid that motivated you to want to try to become a professional yourself?
He was serve and volleying a lot. I like this way as well. He had a very aggressive game style. I maybe picked him because my dad liked him a lot and I actually watched him play in Hanover back then when the [Nitto ATP] Finals were still there. He was just a great, great tennis player to look up to.

In recent years you’ve consistently bounced back from injuries to play some of the best tennis of your career. What did you learn about yourself pushing through those moments?
I still have to work hard and it's possible to reach your dreams and never give up. That's a very, very important lesson and key. And trust in the people I'm surrounded by. 100 per cent trust for the doctors who helped me and especially for my fitness coach and physio, who was always there for me and worked very, very hard to to get me healthy.

What are your biggest hobbies outside of tennis?
Football. Borussia Dortmund has a match right now. I haven't seen a score, so I need to check pretty soon!

I like to watch TV shows. I like a lot of sports like soccer, just sports in general, big fan. I like to see other sporting events. And coffee!

How will you celebrate this milestone moment in your career?
I have a bit more time now. Let's see what we do. My family is leaving pretty soon. I might see them some more minutes and I might go for lunch or maybe have an easy dinner or tomorrow a good breakfast. I really don't know.

But for sure I will need to take a bit of time tonight to appreciate this because tennis is very fast living and the next match is coming up pretty soon. So I'll stay in the moment for a little while and just enjoy and then go back to focusing.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/struff- ... -spotlight

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[DUN I LOVE]

#1) Monachium 2024


BMW Press - BMW Group

R1 wolna runda
R2 Botic Van De Zandschulp 76(0) 64
QF [5] Felix Auger-Aliassime 75 64
SF [2] Holger Rune 62 60
W [3] Taylor Fritz 75 63

[Damian]

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[Damian]

In other action, last year’s Madrid finalist Jan-Lennard Struff captured his 50th ATP Masters 1000 victory by downing French No. 1 Ugo Humbert 7-5, 6-4. Struff did not face a break point en route to his one-hour, 38-minute victory.

Struff has won his past six matches, having captured his maiden tour-level title in Munich last week. The 34-year-old, who holds a 10-4 tournament record in Madrid, will play second seed Carlos Alcaraz or Thiago Seyboth Wild in the fourth round.

https://www.atptour.com/en/news/griekspoor-rune-rublev

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