Jan-Lennard Struff was eliminated in the first round of the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN. The player from Warstein did not find his best tennis against Lorenzo Sonego and lost 3:6, 2:6 after just one hour.
In his twelfth consecutive appearance in Halle, Struff, who particularly enjoys playing on German soil, was unable to get a grip, especially on his returns. Sonego won many free points on his first serve and only allowed three break chances in total. Struff relied in his usual manner on cracking first serves and many net attacks, but made too many mistakes in the decisive moments.
In his second service game, Struff already found himself at 0:40 - he was able to fend off two of the three break points, but then had to concede the third one. When Sonego served for the first set, Struff had two opportunities to close the gap, but Sonego remained composed and clinched the set with a forehand winner.
In the second set, it was the Italian who struck first again. With another forehand winner down the line, Jannik Sinner's doubles partner broke for 3:2 and a little later for 5:2. The 30-year-old again had to avert a re-break on the serve - but again the 1.91-metre man kept his cool and completed the job with his first match point.
This means that Alexander Zverev is the last remaining German in the field before the end of the first round. The Hamburg native, who is the second-seed in Halle and is one of the tournament favourites, will face the American Marcos Giron in his opening match on Wednesday. Before Struff, Daniel Altmaier (against Daniil Medvedev) and Yannick Hanfmann (against Jannik Sinner) also exited in round one.
