{"id":66813,"date":"2024-05-10T07:00:28","date_gmt":"2024-05-10T11:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/?p=66813"},"modified":"2024-05-09T23:43:48","modified_gmt":"2024-05-10T03:43:48","slug":"struffs-munich-magic-marks-late-career-rise","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/tennis\/2024\/05\/10\/struffs-munich-magic-marks-late-career-rise\/","title":{"rendered":"Jan-Lennard Struff’s Munich Magic Marks Late-Career Rise"},"content":{"rendered":"

On April 21, Germany’s number two <\/span><\/span>male<\/span><\/span> player <\/span><\/span>had rather more to celebrate than his 34th birthday. Jan-Lennard Struff <\/a><\/span><\/span>had, <\/span><\/span>four days earlier, exorcised the ghosts of <\/span><\/span>yore to become <\/span><\/span>the p<\/span><\/span>roud possessor of a maiden ATP title. <\/span><\/span>If a<\/span><\/span>lready assured of undying affection <\/span><\/span>by the Munich <\/span><\/span>populace<\/span><\/span>, courtesy of <\/span><\/span>his run to the final in 2021 \u2013 even though they\u2019d have been <\/span><\/span>left underwhelmed<\/span><\/span> by his subsequent defeat there to Basilashvili, followed by the absence in 2022 and an opening round exit to qualifier Ritschard in 2023 \u2013 the purposeful display of typically huge serving and well-timed forehands to which the Bavarian <\/span><\/span>crowd<\/span><\/span> was t<\/span><\/span>reated <\/span><\/span>on that rain-soaked afternoon rendered it an \u201cI was there\u201d occasion.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Struff’s Maiden Triumph in Munich<\/h3>\n

Having dealt with a t<\/span><\/span>rio<\/span><\/span> of set points for opponent Taylor Fritz at 4-5, Struff <\/span><\/span>then <\/span><\/span>broke and held <\/span><\/span>(both <\/span><\/span>to love<\/span><\/span>)<\/span><\/span> to claim set one, then maintained his no-sets-dropped record by taking the second 6-3. Fritz, for his part contesting a first clay final, saw his name added to a stellar list of victims across the week \u2013 including <\/span><\/span>two-time defending champion Holger Rune, subject to a <\/span><\/span>most <\/span><\/span>magnificent obliteration <\/span><\/span>(6-2, 6-0), w<\/span><\/span>hich<\/span><\/span> end<\/span><\/span>ed<\/span><\/span> his streak of <\/span><\/span>11 <\/span><\/span>straight wins at the tournament, a<\/span><\/span>s well as Botic van de Zandschulp, <\/span><\/span>runner-up in <\/span><\/span>both <\/span><\/span>those years.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Whether a first foray into the Top 20 follows remains to be seen, <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>though one <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>can safely assume <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>tennis fans in <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>the <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>Spanish capital <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>will be keeping a close eye on the 34-year-old, following his staggering Madrid performance last year \u2013 begetting a return to the Top 30 after a five-year absence (and a <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>galactic <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>leap of <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>123 places from year-start).<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

A d<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>eep run by <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>a <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>lucky loser always <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>attract<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>s<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> widespread a<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>ttention. Although <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>an ATP title being won by such a player is not unprecedented (half a dozen events have ended in this way since the millennium \u2013 once every 260 tournaments on average), no <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>lucky loser <\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>had heretofore reach<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span>ed the<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span> final of a Masters 1000.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

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