Jan-Lennard Struff in 2019 season: On the Rise

Though it might seem strange to label a season featuring just two semifinal appearances a ‘career best’, 2019 was just that for Jan-Lennard Struff. The German finished a campaign with a positive win/loss record in ATP Tour matches for the first time and enjoyed a substantial rankings jump, breaking into the world’s top 40 and staying there for the first-time in his career. He also finished with an excellent record against the top ten, scoring five wins from ten matches, with two victories over Stefanos Tsitsipas as well as wins against Alexander Zverev, Marin Cilic and Karen Khachanov.

Highlights

Unquestionably one of the best weeks of Struff’s year came on home soil in Stuttgart. The German hammered Denis Shapovalov, Miomir Kecmanovic and former-champion Lucas Pouille en route to the semifinals, where it took a red-hot Matteo Berrettini to stop him. He also made the last four early in the season in Auckland, benefitting from Laslo Djere’s second-set retirement in his opener before dismissing New Zealand’s world #360 Rubin Statham.

But he scored a very creditable win in the quarterfinals up against former-world #10 Pablo Carreno Busta. In a battle with the Spaniard that lasted over three hours, Struff eventually came out on top after saving a match point to book his place in the last four. However, perhaps unsurprisingly, he proved short of energy in the semifinals, losing to the British wildcard Cameron Norrie in three-sets, despite a valiant effort.

But Struff’s two most impressive runs came on clay. In Barcelona, Struff upset David Goffin and Tsitsipas, who had reached the final in 2018, before giving then-world #2 Rafael Nadal a run for his money in a 5-7 5-7 loss in the quarterfinals. He backed that up by putting together a career-best effort at the French Open, where he reached the fourth round after winning a four-hour marathon against Borna Coric in the last 32, saving 16 out of 20 break points en route to an 11-9 win in the fifth set. He was, however, then soundly beaten by Novak Djokovic in the fourth round.

Lowlights

Although Struff enjoyed his most consistent year to date, it was not without disappointments. His early defeat to Go Soeda at the Japan Open can perhaps be excused considering the Japanese’s good form at his home event, with Soeda going on to trouble eventual champion Djokovic in the second round. But his 1-6 1-6 loss to Thiago Monteiro was a shocking defeat. Though he was perhaps fatigued after his exploits in Barcelona, a player of Struff’s calibre should have been able to deliver a far better performance.

However, disappointing as that loss was, it was not his worst of the year. That came in his only qualifying appearance in 2019 at the Rotterdam Open. There he faced Dutch wildcard Ryan Nijboer, then playing without a ranking. Struff dominated the early going, storming to a 4-0 lead in the first set. But almost inexplicably, he lost the next six games before surrendering the second set by one break to slump to a straight-sets defeat.

Improvements

Key to Struff’s successes in 2019 was his serve. On his best days, the German was able to hit his spots with consistency, whilst his ball toss typically betrays little about his intentions to his opponent. Combined with the excellent net game he has developed on the doubles circuit, this allowed Struff to take his aggressive game to the next level. One particularly impressive serving performance came against Kecmanovic in Basel, with Struff hammering 21 aces from just 37 first-serve points.

Expectations for 2020

One thing the German should try to improve is the mental aspect of the game. Despite pulling through a couple of long and closely contested encounters, finishing matches remains a weakness of Struff’s. Notably, he lost his last three matches this season in deciding set tiebreaks. Surely the most painful will be his loss in Paris to Jo-Wilfried Tsonga in which he missed an easy smash at 6-6 in the tiebreak, with Tsonga ending the contest a point later.

But Struff is one of the few players currently on the tour who have enjoyed simultaneous success in both singles and doubles, and it is clear how his time playing doubles has helped his singles game. If he can sharpen his mental game, 2020 could well be a successful season, with a first appearance in a tour-level singles final surely a key goal for the German heading into the new decade.