Three-set thriller without a happy ending: Tennis professional Jan-Lennard Struff failed again at his opening hurdle at the ATP tournament in Dubai.
The German number two lost to the third-seeded Pole Hubert Hurkacz in a hard-fought match 6:7 (5:7), 7:6 (7:4), 6:7 (6:8). A week ago, Struff was already eliminated in round one in Doha – back then against Christopher O’Connell.
The Australian will meet the last German representative, Maximilian Marterer, on Tuesday. For the man from Nuremberg, Doha was also the last stop after the first round.
On Monday afternoon, second-seeded Andrey Rublev beat shooting star Zhang Zhizhen and Brit Andy Murray beat Denis Shapovalov (Canada) in three sets. “Not bad,” said veteran Murray, who celebrated his 500th win on hard court and joined a list that includes Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi: “It’s great to reach 500 before I retire .”
The two-time Wimbledon champion had recently repeatedly toyed with thoughts of retirement. “I still love the competition and tennis. But it’s logically getting more and more difficult. I don’t think I have much time left,” said the 36-year-old after his second win of the season: “But I’ll be there give my best over the last few months.”