Saturday 5th June 2021
Kohlschreiber out in Paris
Struff cracks the “new Rafael Nadal”
His opponent is considered a super talent, but Jan-Lennard Struff still has the upper hand. As the second German tennis professional, he moves into the fourth round of the French Open. For Philipp Kohlschreiber, on the other hand, it’s over in Paris – he leaves it open whether it’s forever.
Jan-Lennard Struff did not let himself be stopped by the Spanish top talent Carlos Alcaraz at the French Open and reached the second round of the last sixteen at the clay court classic in Paris for the second time since 2019. The 31-year-old Warsteiner won against the 18-year-old Alcaraz 6: 4, 7: 6 (7: 3), 6: 2 and thus followed Alexander Zverev into the fourth round. The German number one had clearly won in three sets against the Serbian Laslo Djere on Friday.
Struff will meet number ten seed Diego Schwartzman in the round of 16 on Monday. The Argentine had previously won against the German tennis veteran Philipp Kohlschreiber with 6: 4, 6: 2, 6: 1. In the night session in the evening, Dominik Koepfer still has the chance to make it to the round of 16. From 9 p.m., the 27-year-old will face 20-time Grand Slam winner Roger Federer from Switzerland.
Against Alcaraz, in which many experts already see the “new Rafael Nadal”, Struff seamlessly continued his strong performance in Paris. The German number two determined the event for a long time at will and got the first set 6: 4. In the second set, too, Struff was quickly one break ahead. After that, Alcaraz improved, while Struff lost the rhythm a bit. At 5: 6 he even had to fend off a set ball from the Spaniard, but then got the second round in the tie-break. This broke Alcaraz’s resistance. Struff dominated again with his powerful game and used his fourth match point after 2:16 hours.
“That hurts”
Kohlschreiber, on the other hand, clearly missed the last sixteen. The 37-year-old from Augsburg has never been able to build on his previous good performances at the Stade Roland Garros. “It was actually a good first set. But then I got problems with the adductors on both sides and couldn’t play with the necessary energy and power,” said Kohlschreiber, disappointed.
Nevertheless, he was able to start the journey home satisfied, having finally won two games in a row after a long time. “At the moment I’m not looking forward to the tournament, the defeat hurts. But tomorrow on the way home the joy will come,” said Kohlschreiber.
The veteran was only able to open the game against Schwartzman at the very beginning. But to make it 2: 3, he received an early break and gave up the first set after 44 minutes. Schwartzman, who was in the semi-finals in Paris last year, also quickly pulled away in the second round and secured the set 6: 2. Kohlschreiber then went to the cabin for treatment and complained of adductor problems. Although he tried everything again afterwards, it was no longer enough for a turnaround and the first round of 16 entry in Paris in eight years.
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