Three matches in one day
Unleashed Struff mercilessly dismantles defending champions
April 20, 2024, 4:39 p.m
What a performance from Jan-Lennard Struff: The German tennis professional only needed 45 minutes to sweep Holger Rune from the Center Court in Munich. Curious: The German will be on the pitch for three matches today.
Tennis professional Jan-Lennard Struff is aiming for his first title on the ATP tour. Thanks to a fantastic performance, the 33-year-old Warsteiner made it to the final of the BMW Open, where he will now face the American Taylor Fritz on Sunday. In just 45 minutes he defeated last year’s Danish champion Holger Rune 6:2, 6:0 in the semifinals. The German Davis Cup professional had just a few hours earlier had to finish his quarter-final, which was canceled on Friday.
Struff is in his fourth ATP final, for the second time since 2021 in Munich – success has so far been denied him. In the Bavarian capital, he can now secure a home win after top favorite Alexander Zverev was eliminated.
Struff mastered his double shift on Saturday brilliantly: First, he beat the Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in the quarterfinals 7:5, 6:4 – the match had been canceled the previous evening due to darkness when the score was 7:5, 3:1, much to Struff’s chagrin. Just over three hours after the match point, the family man had to play against the 20-year-old Rune, who had won the BMW Open 2022 and 2023. Struff played like he was unleashed and gave the youngster no chance.
US professional Fritz is now waiting in the final. The number three seeded Californian won against Chilean Cristian Garin 6:3, 6:4 and is looking for his second tournament victory this year. Garin defeated the top seed from Hamburg, Zverev, on Friday.
Curious: Struff is also in the semi-finals of the doubles competition together with Andreas Mies; the match was originally scheduled between Struff’s singles matches. But Mies had to wait, and now both will only play their game in the late afternoon.