Jan-Lennard Struff likes to come to Kitzbühel. The journey from the ATP World Tour 500 tournament in Hamburg to the Generali Open could have been easier: Due to a safety margin at Munich Airport, the flight from Hamburg was postponed, Struff arrived in Kitzbühel late in the night from Saturday to Sunday.
By Jens Huiber from Kitzbühel
The German Davis Cup player completed his first training with Sebastian Ofner, the interview afterwards during a relaxed ride on the ergometer.
tennisnet: You came almost directly from Hamburg to the training ground here at the Kitzbüheler Tennis Club. How have you been at your first practice?
Jan-Lennard Struff: I liked the first unit. A few balls have still flown away, it is just very fast here, but I like that anyway. Hamburg was very hot this year, that’s why the balls flew so well. Therefore, the change is not as blatant as usual when it rained in Hamburg. It was much slower there, also because of the balls.
tennisnet: You reached the semi-finals in Hamburg with your partner Ben Mclachlan – and then lost in the match tiebreak. Doesn’t this format disadvantage the better teams?
Struff: Contrariwise: Without Match Tiebreak I wouldn’t have started playing doubles. Because otherwise it would have been too much. The no-ad rule, on the other hand, is tough, it’s a pain in the ass. When the recoils make two points, you’re already under a lot of stress. In Hamburg it was just bitter: Two of the first four points were frame volley winners. Then it’s 1:4, we equalize at 7:7, then lose 7:10. That was bitter. We played well in the first set, but then Peralta/Zeballos were better.
tennisnet: Is participation in the ATP final in London still the declared goal?
Struff: The individual is more important to me, but: I want to go there, that is absolutely clear. But this is relatively difficult because we won’t play the upcoming Masters 1000 tournaments. There are many points awarded. We’ll play Winston Salem, the US Open, definitely Paris-Bércy and Shanghai, maybe Tokyo as well. If we play well, we can make it.
tennisnet: Do you find enough opportunities to train with Ben Mclachlan?
Struff: We usually play intensively, practice cross-volley, longline-volley. We tend to work out the tactics in the match. We just play together a lot, that’s the most important thing. Developing a sense of how to play together as a team is essential.
tennisnet: You are also involved in the German Bundesliga. Will you be competing for Halle again this year?
Struff: I’ll probably play again next Sunday. The tournament here goes to Saturday, so even if I should be in the final, I could play on Sunday. After that there would be another game, let’s see if I’m at the start.
tennisnet: A few days ago Dominic Thiem played for Grün-Weiß Mannheim in the Bundesliga in front of almost 4,000 fans. Is this the everyday life you know?
Struff: That was a derby against Weinheim, the two clubs are right next to each other. But Domi has a lot of fans, of course, that’s for sure. At our home games, when we played for the championship, there were sometimes 4,000 spectators. But Friday matchdays are generally difficult because everyone has to work, and the matches start at 1 pm. Sometimes we have 1,500 fans, which is actually good.
tennisnet: The final question must be about the BVB. Mario Mandzukic was in conversation, will probably not come after all…
Struff: Mandzukic is a great player, a great fighter. But I have just read an interview with Hans-Joachim Watzke that Mandzukic wants to stay with Juventus Turin after the arrival of Cristiano Ronaldo. That’s probably what I’d want in his situation.