10:55 p.m
Struff – Paul 3: 6, 0: 0
The second set is opened by Struff. At 15:15, Paul only hits the return with the edge of his bat and the ball lands in the spectator stands.
10:54 p.m
Conclusion sentence one
It remains the case that Jan-Lennard Struff has not yet won a set against Tommy Paul. Playfully, the two are not that far apart today, but Struff’s backhand in particular is far too error-prone. The German does not have to hide with the forehand, this is used far too little. In addition, Struff also knows that he has never won a match against Paul. This doesn’t help to keep the looseness in the shots.
22:52
Struff-Paul 3:6
The American strikes outwards. Struff puts all his anger and hope into the forehand return and briefly crosses the ball out. The first set goes to the favourite.
22:51
Struff-Paul 3:5
And again it’s the backhand! Paul doesn’t hit the ball cleanly and so the German has the chance to determine the rally. However, the backhand down the line fails at the net. It is now also purely tactical that Paul is increasingly playing the backhand from the German. There is the set ball for the 25-year-old.
10:49 p.m
Struff-Paul 3:5
There is even more pressure on Struff’s next service game, because he is now serving against the loss of the set. The first two points quickly go to the German’s account before Paul scores a playfully outstanding point. He advances and plays the forehand volley exactly into the far corner. With an ace through the middle, Struff holds on in the first set.
22:46
Struff-Paul 2:5
Again it is the edge of the net that sends Struff’s ball out of bounds. Tommy Paul confirms his break and has lived up to his role as a favorite so far.
10:44 p.m
Struff-Paul 2:4
The next slight error with the backhand follows. Struff is not good with the ball from the middle and so it lands on his own side again. In the subsequent rally, Struff is back on the defensive, but can free himself sensationally with a forehand shot past Paul.
22:42
Struff-Paul 2:4
Can Paul confirm his break on the second try? The first point goes to Struff before he commits his twelfth unforced error. Again, it’s the backhand that ends up in the net.
22:41
Struff-Paul 2:4
This is too wild! Paul’s return is not particularly good. The ball lands in the half-field without much speed and Struff wants to go for it immediately. However, he misplaces the backhand far behind the baseline, losing his service game to a clean sheet.
10:40 p.m
Struff-Paul 2:3
Are there the next break opportunities? Struff runs around his backhand and shoots his forehand longline down the line. But Paul is wide awake and crosses his backhand past the advancing Struff, 0:30.
10:39 p.m
Struff-Paul 2:3
That’s a supreme length from Tommy Paul! The American put the ball straight into the back corner. Struff has to make himself really long to reach the ball. As a result, his whole side is open and Paul doesn’t have to take a high risk with the crossball.
10:37 p.m
Struff-Paul 2:3
There’s the rebreak! Jan-Lennard Struff can get his break back immediately by hitting his opponent with pressure. This forces Paul to make a mistake and everything is back on track.
22:36
Struff-Paul 1:3
With the luck of the net edge, the American can pull his head out of the noose again. The only question is for how long? Struff is back on the trigger and secures the next advantage.
22:34
Struff-Paul 1:3
Lucky for Struff. Paul’s serve through the middle almost looks like a service winner, but Struff somehow gets the bat in front of the ball. The ball falls briefly cross into the field. Although Paul is quickly up front, he can no longer control the ball. There’s another break chance for Struff!
22:32
Struff-Paul 1:3
Can Struff get the break back directly? With two good forehands, he knocks Paul out of step and gets the first two points. Two more backhands followed, which didn’t find their way into the net. One flies wide, one fails because of the height of the net.
10:30 p.m
Struff-Paul 1:3
That’s very bitter! The German pulls out the second double fault in this service game and faces a 0:40. Can he fend off all three breakballs? No! The third and last breakball is his undoing. Again it is the edge of the net that does not bring him luck. The ball bounces off and Tommy Paul gets the early break.
22:27
Struff-Paul 1:2
Jan-Lennard Struff starts with a double fault. In the subsequent rally, his backhand ball hits the edge of the net. The ball still flies into Paul’s field. But he has time to put himself in a good position and crosses his forehand to become the winner.
22:24
Struff-Paul 1:2
The last point from Warsteiner remains the only one in this service game from the American. After facing two break chances in his first service game, Paul will do well with the solid service game.
22:23
Struff-Paul 1:1
Strongly played by Jan-Lennard Struff. Paul falls short and the German takes over the initiative with his quick forehand. To do this, he advances to the net at the right time and makes the point.
22:22
Struff-Paul 1:1
Nice combination by Paul. He sends the German wide to complete his backhand longline. Because it worked so well, he does it again from the advantage side, 30:0 from Paul’s point of view.
22:21
Struff-Paul 1:1
With a good serve to the body, Struff gets the advantage. After that, Paul’s backhand return flies wide and everything stays in line.
22:20
Struff – Paul 0: 1
The 32-year-old German tries to determine the game with a lot of speed. He manages that pretty well up to the 40-15 score, but then he makes a slight mistake with the backhand. The 25-year-old wins the subsequent rally with a very strong forehand cross. At Struff, too, the first service game goes directly over the debut.
22:17
Struff – Paul 0: 1
The American can no longer take this service game. With two break chances averted, he is wide awake.
10:15 p.m
Struff – Paul 0:0
Another backhand from Struff does not find its way into the individual field and so the break chances are destroyed. Afterwards, Struff builds up the point perfectly, but cannot use the attack ball. Paul scrapes the Paul away from the floor and lifts it back in front of the baseline. Struff misjudges, pulls the bat away and only sees the ball coming up in his half.
22:13
Struff – Paul 0:0
Struff’s return is really good, so Paul is forced onto the defensive early on. In the end, however, he can free himself and put more pressure on his opponent. Struff is forced to make a backhand error. A break chance remains.
22:12
Struff – Paul 0:0
With an ace through the middle, the American scored his first point of the game. Nevertheless, there are the first break chances for the Warsteiner, because Paul crosses his backhand into the net.
22:11
Struff – Paul 0:0
Tommy Paul wins the coin toss and decides to serve. The first two points go to Struff as Paul hasn’t found his length in the shots yet.
22:07
players are there
With a few minutes delay, the players arrived on the pitch. It can start right away!
21:47
Sinner prevails
Jannik Sinner prevails. With a 6:3 and 7:6 success, he moves into the next round. The space will be free in a few minutes. Jan-Lennard Struff and Tommy Paul are expected at 10 p.m.
21:27
Space not available yet
The start of the game will be delayed a bit. The place is currently occupied by Richard Gasquet and Jannik Sinner. Sinner won the first set 6:3. In the second set, everything is in line at 4:4. As soon as there is news here, we will get back to you.
21:22
Favorite role clearly distributed
Jan-Lennard Struff will not have jumped in the air when he found out that Tommy Paul could wait in the second round. The two have already faced each other three times and the winner was always Tommy Paul. The last duel between the two protagonists took place at the Australian Open in January. Here, too, Struff successfully fought his way through the qualification and met today’s opponent in round one. It got tight in the second set, but in the end the American prevailed in three confident sets. Paul is still the clear favorite to win today. However, Jan-Lennard Struff will be highly motivated to finally win his first win against Paul.
21:13
Strong uptrend for Paul
The American Tommy Paul is currently experiencing his absolute tennis high. Already in 2022, the 25-year-old was getting stronger and more constant and he is carrying this upward trend into the new year. In February in Acapulco, he reached a final at an ATP 500 tournament for the first time, losing to Alex de Minaur in three sets. Reaching the final catapulted the American back into the top 20. He’s currently ranked 19th, just one shy of his all-time career high. Previously, Paul drew attention to himself at the Australian Open 2023 when he made it to the semi-finals. But then it was over against Novak Djokovic.
21:00
Struff fights back
Jan-Lennard Struff is currently very active at the Challenger level. Due to a variety of injury breaks, the 32-year-old Warsteiner dropped back to 134th in the world rankings. Only at the beginning of February did the former German number two struggle with an inflammation of the biceps tendon. In Indian Wells, however, he successfully played his way into the main draw through qualification. The first round was against Quentin Halys from France. Nothing went right for the German in the first set, but after that he found his game better and better and was able to confidently win sets two and three. With Tommy Paul, however, there is a completely different caliber on the other side of the net today.
20:50
Welcome
Good evening and welcome to another day at the BNP Paribas Open. Jan-Lennard Struff and Tommy Paul will not meet before 9:30 p.m. in the Indian Wells Tennis Garden.