Jan-Lennard Struff has already turned two games that he thought lost, most recently despite 61 aces by Ivo Karlovic. The third round match against defending champion Roger Federer now beckons as reward.
When Jan-Lennard Struff recently marched off the pitch at the Gerry Weber Open, everything was as cloudy as ever. Struff lost his first round match against the Spaniard Roberto Bautista Agut without a break, it was the ninth depressing defeat at the tournament in his home town of East Westphalia, he has still not won a single match in Halle. “I just hope there’s something going on for me in Wimbledon,” Struff said later. However, it did not sound convincing and convincing.
But on Saturday the whole tennis world will suddenly look at him, the 1.96-metre giant from Warstein – then, when he enters the well-kept tennis green in Wimbledon with a certain Roger Federer, for a third-round rendezvous at the Theater der Träume. Struff, the shy, shy, stoic giant, has really got something going: The preparation for the qualifiers at the Open English Championships was bad, he also lost in Stuttgart in the first round against 17-year-old upstart Rudi Molleker, but now defiant resistance and tireless fighting spirit in his two Wimbledon starter games have given him perhaps the greatest moment of his career. “Playing Federer in Wimbledon is like winning the lottery,” says Struff. “When I saw the draw, I thought to myself: You must come into this match.”
The 28-year-old had earned the memorable date in the sweat of his face, in hours of marathon games, often enough balancing at the precipice of elimination. But although he went into the red against the Argentinean Leonardo Mayer and then also against the “Lord of the Aces”, the 2.07-meter tower Ivo Karlovic (Croatia), each with 0:2 sets, unleashing artist Struff is still there – at the scene in Wimbledon, where such great deeds once again unfold a completely different effect.
With the mute of desperation Struff braced himself against the defeats, even took away a drumfire of 61 Assen Karlovics on Wednesday, finally won the endurance test for body and mind after 225 minutes with 6:7 (5:7), 3:6, 7:6 (7:4), 7:6 (7:4) and 13:11. Struff’s simple motto continued: “You must never give up, never lose faith”. In the end, Struff was also extremely thin in the points against Karlovic: 206 to 205.
Struff’s self-confidence to be able to assert himself in complicated tennis situations had won him over, especially in the national team. There, the reserved Ostwestfale, who plays many movements but only speaks a few, has become an important support – most recently as part of the successful double “Tim und Struffi”, with Frankfurt’s Tim Pütz. Both in Australia and later in Spain, Struff and his congenial partner unexpectedly scored the double point this season, in the Davis Cup the two fighters are still undefeated. But Struff managed to save Germany from relegating to second-class status as early as 2016, almost single-handedly, when they defeated Poland (in Berlin) 3-2 in the delegation. “He has gained enormously in stature,” says Davis Cup captain Michael Kohlmann about Struff.
Since Struff has been looked after by Kohlmann’s predecessor at the Davis Cup post, Cologne’s Carsten Arriens, he has been playing with much more dynamism and emotion. Slowly but steadily the duo moved upwards, in the meantime Struff has steadily established itself in the Top 100. From time to time, however, the old poison of lethargy creeps in again with East Westphalia, and this was also the case in the match against Karlovic: “I was annoyed at myself because I became too calm,” Struff said afterwards.
He is unlikely to be in such danger against Federer: “The heart will beat faster when it starts.” And, what chance does he have against the eight-time champion, against whom he has lost both previous matches so far? “I’m going to the court to win,” says Struff, “and if I’m two sets behind, I guess I’ll have to smile – and keep believing in myself.”