Jan-Lennard Struff celebrates the greatest success of his career at the ATP tournament in Munich. The 33-year-old defeated the American Taylor Fritz in the final. Similar to his sensational victory in the semifinals against Holger Rune, the first set was competitive. In the second set, the Warstein native finally prevailed and won his first ATP title on the third attempt. After 1:19 hours the scoreboard read 7:5, 6:3. “Absolutely crazy, it feels very good,” said the winner of Munich 2024 in the BR24Sport interview. “Winning this in front of German fans means a lot to me. It was a very, very important victory for me emotionally.”
Contested first set
The final under the eyes of FC Bayern professional Thomas Müller and the Bavarian Prime Minister Markus Söder started well for Struff, as he took his serve from Fritz in the first game. But the American countered immediately and got the re-break. When the score was 3:3, Struff had three break points, but still managed to make it 40:0. The match remained high-class and Struff demonstrated his excellent form on the Aumeister.
At 4:5 he fended off three set points and then countered with the break to make it 6:5. And the first of three set balls was right there. Fritz was no longer able to return Struff’s serve and the German took the first set 7:5 after 44 minutes. “I may have needed that little kick. Warding off those set points was tough and then I played a little more freely,” Struff analyzed after the match.
Heavy rain again
And the second set should also start like the first: with a break from Struff. The 33-year-old impressed with dangerous serves and hard hits on the baseline and took a 2-0 lead. The rain was getting heavier on the center court of the MTTC Iphitos, but referee Fergus Murphy allowed play to continue. This particularly played into Struff’s hands, as he didn’t let Fritz get into the match.
The wave of euphoria carried the former Bundesliga player from TC Großhesselohe through the match. The day before he had already finished his quarter-finals, humiliated Holger Rune in the semi-finals and also played his way into the final in the doubles. “The course was tough to play on at the end. It was a bit slippery. But the conditions were difficult all week,” said Struff after his tournament victory.
Double break decides the final for Struff
An example of the run: When the score was 4:2, he fought for two break points with a net roller. The world number 15 was able to fend off this, but in the end Struff still took the serve from him. The Madrid 2023 finalist headed towards the title with two breaks and a 5-2 lead. But Fritz didn’t give up yet and in return got the re-break. Jan-Lennard Struff, who had already been in the final at Aumeister in 2021 and lost to Nikolos Bassischwili, did not miss his greatest career success and won after one hour and 19 minutes.