Jan-Lennard Struff is the new thriller king of the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN. In the sensationally dramatic 6:7(2), 7:5 and 7:6(10) against the Italian Luciano Darderi, the player from Warstein produced a real tie-break thriller. Only in the tie-break itself he had seven matchpoints. And the local hero had already had three earlier match points at 6:5, but the 22-year-old Darderi, who was making his grass court debut on the tour, was able to fend them off with his own serve. "Was it really ten?" he asked in surprise after the game. "Then it's probably better that I won it too, isn't it?" he added with a grin.
Struff was celebrated by the fans on the Centre Court for his success and was grateful for the atmosphere. "Thanks for the support, I needed it today," said the 34-year-old, who is the oldest player in the field at the 31st TERRA WORTMANN OPEN. "This is my home tournament. I've already lost twice here 6:7 in the third set, I'm just happy to have won this thing."
Even though the TERRA WORTMANN OPEN are one of Jan-Lennard Struff's (ATP 41) favorite tournaments, the love affair between the Warstein native and the ATP tournament in Halle is still a work in progress. The victory against Darderi (ATP 34), who had a match point in the third set tie-break, is only the fourth time Struff has reached the round of 16 in Halle; he has already had to bow out in the first round seven times. He has not yet made it to the quarter-finals.
The relationship with Halle is also so strong because Struff played for TC BW Halle in the Bundesliga from 2011 to 2018 and celebrated three German team championships. Struff is currently playing for TC Bredeney in the Bundesliga.
The first set was already a record-breaker. Struff and Darderi only needed 33 minutes to reach the tie-break. The match was completely even, but this was to change in the deciding game. Darderi didn't let anything go with his own service, Struff made too many mistakes. The Argentinian-born Italian won the first set 7:2.
Not much changed in the second set at first. The servers dominated the match, with Darderi having to fend off two break points in the fourth game. Up to 6:5 for Struff, everything went according to plan, then the 34-year-old suddenly struck. He converted the first set point to make it 7:5 and level in the sets.
Set three was nothing short of dramatic. Struff was broken at 2:3, but promptly hit back. Apart from the three aforementioned match points for Struff at 6:5, the set was also even until the tie-break eclipsed everything. Struff led 6:3, looked like the sure winner, but Darderi fought back. 6:6, then Struff had match point again, then Darderi suddenly won, then Struff won three more times. At 11:10, a backhand from the Italian sailed out of bounds, game, set and victory for Struff, who will now play sixth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas from Greece on Thursday. "I'm just happy that I can play here again," said the exhausted winner.
But why did he win one of those thrillers this time that he had lost so often in Halle in previous years? Did his first tournament win, in Munich this year, play a role? "Yes, of course it gave me a boost that I still managed to do it. It really got to me that I hadn't won a title yet. I really longed for it," he admitted. Why not go for the second in Halle?
