Jan-Lennard Struff is the happiest “lucky loser” in the tennis world. His unusual triumph in Madrid takes him to the final.
Jan-Lennard Struff couldn’t really grasp his “incredible week” in Madrid even after the biggest win of his career – his prominent fans cheered the unusual success all the more.
Alexander Zverev, soccer world champion Mats Hummels and table tennis star Dimitrij Ovtcharov were happy on Instagram about Struff’s first entry into a Masters final, tennis icon Boris Becker was even over the moon.
“Struffi, you’re a machine!!!”, wrote the three-time Wimbledon winner about the happiest “lucky loser” in the tennis world. After all, Struff had already failed in qualifying in Madrid – and first fought down world number five Stefanos Tsitsipas with irrepressible courage and will, 24 hours later he also won the semifinals against Aslan Karatsev 4: 6, 6: 3, 6: 4.
“That’s awesome. I’m just really happy, it’s an incredible week,” said Struff after the win against Tsitsipas on the “Sky” microphone – and called it “crazy” to now meet Karatsev. The Warsteiner had already been eliminated against the Russians last week in qualification, but Struff still moved into the main field due to cancellations – and made excellent use of his unexpected opportunity.
Struff after reaching the final in Madrid: “Just happy to be back”
“I wouldn’t have believed that a week ago either,” said Struff: “It’s a crazy world sometimes.”
For Struff, this also ended a period of suffering. “I’m just happy to be back,” he said, recalling that a broken toe slowed him down last year and even knocked him out of the top 100 in the world rankings.
Now the 33-year-old, who has only reached a final once on the ATP tour and is still waiting for a tournament victory, is even scratching the top 30, his highest placing so far (29) is within reach. And soon he could even replace Olympic champion Zverev as German number one.
Struff attributed a large part to this resurrection to his team, who loudly supported him in Madrid. “I got full throttle out of the box again, that was world class,” he said after the coup against former French Open finalist Tsitsipas, for manager Corrado Tschabuschnig it was even “the best performance of his career”.
Struff’s trainer Marvin Netuschil was also enthusiastic. “With tennis, he’s dangerous for almost everyone,” he said. He also reckoned his protégé had good chances for the semi-finals, “the greatest moment of his career” – and agrees with Boris Becker. He already predicted that Struff’s incredible journey in Madrid “is far from over”.