Wimbledon, 2nd round, Wednesday, 03.07.2024, 14:30
The first hurdle has been cleared! Jan-Lennard Struff wants to show his best side at Wimbledon and underline the fact that his recent top performances against world-class opponents have not come about by chance.
On Wednesday, he will face an opponent who is three places ahead of him in the world rankings – but is still the clear underdog with the bookmakers. Why is that the case and why am I backing a German victory at over 3.5 sets? I’ll tell you in my Zhang Struff betting tip:
Two 3rd rounds, that’s it! Admittedly, Wimbledon is not exactly the major that Jan-Lennard Struff prefers based on his results. There is still time to round off his career with much better results.
The Warstein-born player has already avoided a 1st round exit once. On Monday, he started the tournament against Fabian Marozsan. A very challenging opponent, but the German always had the upper hand.
He prevailed 6-4, 6-7, 6-2, 6-3. Had he not committed nine double faults, the match might have been over sooner. I can’t really blame the 34-year-old when it comes to his serve.
23 aces, 82% points won on his first serve, that’s how it can go on. He gave Marozsan six break chances, which has to improve in the next few rounds. But his fans know that his form is basically right
His performances in Halle not only thrilled his own fans, but also the neutral spectators. A 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 win over Luca Darderi was fun to watch, and the smooth 6-4, 6-4 win over Stefanos Tsitsipas was of course an even greater reason to celebrate.
Losing 2-6, 7-6, 6-7 to world number one Jannik Sinner is certainly no disgrace. Or to put it another way: Struff is in really good form and is pursuing big goals.
A 2nd round exit is not really an option. How do you rate Zhizhen Zhang as an opponent, what does the direct comparison say? The two have met twice in 2023 and both matches went to the German.
That may well have influenced the bookmakers in their odds. On average, Struff is ahead with 1.35 to 3.20, even though Zhang is actually three places ahead of him in the world rankings
In the duel between the two 1.93m men, the Chinese player knows that not everyone expects him to win. It will be the first time ever for him to play in the 2nd round of Wimbledon.
And he fully deserves it, as he beat Maxime Janvier from France 7-6, 6-3, 6-2 in the first round. He only conceded one break and didn’t make a single double fault in 13 aces.
The 27-year-old was somewhere between genius and madness during his Wimbledon preparations. In Stuttgart, he came up just short against Dominik Koepfer, but things should get much better in Halle
Sebastian Ofner (7-6, 6-7, 6-4), Daniil Medvedev (6-3, 2-6, 7-6) and Christopher Eubanks (6-4, 4-6, 7-5) before narrowly losing 4-6, 6-7 to Jannik Sinner in the semi-finals.
And in Eastbourne? Surprisingly, he lost 2-6, 6-7 to Miomir Kecmanovic right at the start. Tiebreaks? They are his great specialty! The last five matches included six of them.
For Struff? There have even been eight in the last six matches! So it seems that both players are predestined to hold out until the end in long, energy-sapping matches
My Zhang Struff tip
How far can Jan-Lennard Struff go at Wimbledon? The German No. 2 has played a great preparation and got off to a pretty confident start in the first round against Fabian Marozsan.
He has two wins against Zhizhen Zhang in 2023. The Chinese player is similarly strong in service as Struff, it’s not for nothing that he knocked out Daniil Medvedev in Halle and put Jannik Sinner to a tough test.
I therefore assume that Zhang and Struff will have a really close race for the next round. Since I see the German ahead overall, I have decided on the following bet:
Struff wins, but three sets won’t be enough!
