Jan-Lennard Struff – TennisReporters.net

On clay, Sloane Stephens was brilliant, wins Rouen

Month after month, when Sloane Stephens is up and down all the time, but last week, she finally raised it again, winning a title, in Rouen. How she did that, when in the first three months, she could not turn on the lights, but this time, she went for it, earlier.

On Sunday, she beat Magda Linette 6-1, 2-6, 6-2. That was pretty darn good in the third set. Her forehand and her backhand went deep, close to the lines. She could lose it early again, but the former 2017 US Open champion is finally satisfied.

As Stephens said, she is friendly with Linette, but she beat her anyway. “She’s one of my favorite people on tour. We spend a lot of time together and practice together a ton. We talk literally every single week . It’s so nice to play against someone I really care about in the final.”

Now Stephens will have to play against the great players, at Madrid, Rome and then, at Roland Garros. Hopefully in Paris, she will be ranked in the top 30, at least. Can she reach into the second week? Time will tell.

The other American, Taylor Fritz, made it into the final in Munich, and it was possible that he could win it all, but the veteran Jan-Lennard Struff finally won the tournament. He was so darn happy, when he beat Fritz 7-5, 6-3. He is 33-year-old , so it took him a very long time to breath, in the final. This time, he was super consistent.

“I have been on the tour for such a long time. It’s an unbelievable feeling to win my first title [on] home soil,” the German said. “I played good tennis this week. I am very happy, as I beat many great guys. It’s just amazing to do it here in Germany.”

He did, and while Fritz couldn’t win a tournament, at least he got there.

Ruud dominates in Barcelona
In Barcelona, Casper Ruud really knew it, in the final, as eight days ago in Monte Carlo , he lost in the final against Stefanos Tsitsipas. Yet this time, Ruud decided to win it, he was going to have to play more powerful, and push himself, close to the baseline. He did that, when he won it 7-5, 6-3 over the Greek. Ruud has won 11 titles, 10 on clay, so obviously he really likes to rally. However, if he can win a huge event, he can actually try to win at the French Open, but it is still early. The No. 6 is thrilled.

Rybakina wins in Stuttgart
Over in Stuttgart, Elena Rybakina won the title, and once again, beating everyone when she is really on. She can be so aggressive, and she can throw it all around, everywhere. Yes, she can be ticked off, when she is not thrilled during the match, and she can toon it out. However, when she is thoughtful, and patient, then she can beat anyone.

In the semis, she beat the No. 1 Iga Swiatek 6-3, 4-6, 6-3 , and then in the final, she blasted the young player, Marta Kostyuk, 6-2, 6-2. That was the first time this year that the No. 4 Rybakina won a tournament. So now, she is very satisfied and more confident. As she said when she beat Swiatek: “I think it’s just style of the game. Iga, she moves really well and she likes to dominate in the rally. With me, it’s difficult because I play fast, I play flatter, and also like to move the opponent.

“So matchup where we are both pushing each other, both trying to dominate in the point. So I think of course also my serve helps a lot. That’s why some matches I win; some matches I lose. But it’s always tough for her to play against me and for me to play against her.”

The Picks in Madrid: Friday, May 4

Carlos Alcaraz over Borna Coric
On Friday, the Spaniard will be 20-years-old and he is in the semis again. Alcaraz is on top of the ball, crushing his strong forehand and his backhand, which can be exact, or fling it with some crazy, good spin. He has never played against Coric, and he knows that the rallies will be super long. But both of them will do it, trying to table in some cosmic shots. As Alcaraz said, he is just fine to hurl in a number of dropshots, and with a huge of winners, right over the net.

“This is something that I did a lot when I was young. I feel really comfortable on that shot,” he said.” Yeah, is a really good weapon for me. Honestly, I just feel it, the dropshot. Alcaraz did win the 2022 US Open, but that is only one Slam, yet. However, he really does believe he will continue to get better, and win, a lot. As he said: “I want to be part of the, you know, the best tennis players in history and I will work for it.”

Back in 2018, Coric took down Roger Federer, Juan Martin del Potro, Daniil Medvedev and Alexander Zverev, among others. He was so terrific, grinding all the time, and he was so consistent. But he never made it into the top 10, partly because he could be somewhat odd, on the court, and also, he needed to take over the net, more frequently. “Carlos is an impressive player in an incredible form. He is the favorite against me, but I will go out and have fun on the court,” Boris said. Five years later, he is going for it, and if he wants to out-hit against Alcaraz, he must have to take off the gloves off. He might, but Alcaraz will pound him and knock him out in two, tough, sets.

Jan-Lennard Struff over Aslan Karatsev
To see these two in the semis at the ATP 1000s rarely happens. The combination of the rankings are 176. That is so rare in the ATP 1000s, where so few people would think that the players will win in a bunchs of matches. Usually, deep at the tournaments, the top 30 men will have a legitimate chance to go very profound with the young players, good players, but this time, the long veterans are here now.

Struff stunned Stefanos Tsitsipas, and it looked like he was going to lose quickly, but he came up huge, especially with his first serve, and his hefty forehand. Two weeks ago, they played each other in a qualifying, and Karatsev chopped him. Now, it will be very close again, this time on the fast clay courts.

“Aslan is playing amazing this week. I didn’t play the best tennis in that match, but he made me play not good I feel like,” Struff said. “I think we need to analyze it now, focus on the match and I hope I can do better.”
He will have to as Karatsev is finally rising, and he must be breathtaking.
“I started the year inside the top 100, then I dropped and lost some matches. You have to keep going and believe,” Karatsev said. “From the qualifying, match by match, it has got harder, so mentally you have to be there more. Because your opponent doesn’t give you any free points so you have to be there yourself.”

It will be maybe three hours, with some long points, and in the third set, Struff will hit a few winners into the corner. He will win it , when he is almost exhausted, but he will be happy.

Matt’s yesterday picks

Correct: Iga Swiatek over Veronika Kudermetova
Correct: Aryna Sabalenka over Maria Sakkari
Stefanos Tsitsipas over Jan-Lennard Struff
Zhizhen Zhang over Aslan Karatsev

Matt’s picks from Madrid

7 out of 12, 58.3% correct