At the Intrum Stockholm Open Jan-Lennard Struff kept his nerves in his match – Mischa Zverev also had to fight hard.
Struff had to deal with the strong Marius Copil from Romania in the sixteenth final.The game was to be the expected close match, in which both players did not give each other any bruises in the first set.In the tiebreak, the German let feathers and had to give up round one with 6:7 (2).Born in Warstein, he did not get up and remained faithful to his game – with success.Struff took advantage of his fifth break point in game seven of the second set and took the lead 4-3.The 27-year-old equalled the score with a solid serve at 6:4.
The decisive third set was also better for “Struffi” and the German immediately grabbed the break against Copil.However, Struff couldn’t defend the lead for long and had to give up his serve early in the third round.Struff was also unable to confirm another break to 4:3 and promptly won the re-break.Struff fought off one match point at a score of 5:5, before entering the second tiebreak of the match.This developed into a nerve battle, which the German won with 14:12.In the end, Struff won 6:7 (2), 6:4 and 7:6 (12).The 27-year-old now faces fourth seeded Juan Martín del Potro.
Mischa Zverev also got an ungrateful ticket.The 30-year-old had to face Swedish youngster Mikael Ymer and was caught cold.The Serve-and-Volley specialist lost the first round after only 31 minutes with 1:6.
In the second round, a bit more consistency in the game of the world’s number 30, but his 11 years younger opponent fought back and forced Zverev to make mistakes.At a score of 3-3, the native Muscovite scented his chance and used it to break the match for the first time.However, the upturn in the German economy did not last long: In return, Ymer managed to break back to zero.The experienced rider let his opponent repeatedly change the tempo and produced unforced errors en masse.However, the local hero seemed to have his nerves fluttering at the decisive moment and gave his service game to Zverev at 5:6 and lost the set 5:7.
Ymer remained faithful to his game in the decisive round and surprised his opponent with great wins.The young Swede was always at full risk and was rewarded with a break and a quick 3-0 lead.However, Zverev fought his way back into the match with an energetic performance, winning five games in a row and serving out to win the 1-6,7-5 and 6-4 match.
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