He was the better player, had two match points – but no luck in the end. Jan-Lennard Struff fails in round one in Dubai
Three-set thriller without a happy ending: tennis pro Jan-Lennard Struff (33) has once again failed at his opening hurdle at the ATP tournament in Dubai. The German number two lost 6:7 (5:7), 7:6 (7:4), 6:7 (6:8) to Hubert Hurkacz, the third seed from Poland, in a hard-fought match.
Even two match points were not enough to win. Struff had already been eliminated in the first round in Doha a week ago – against Christopher O’Connell.
The Australian will play the last German representative, Maximilian Marterer, on Tuesday. The player from Nuremberg was also eliminated after the first round in Doha.
Earlier on Monday afternoon, second seed Andrei Rublev had beaten shooting star Zhang Zhizhen and Great Britain’s Andy Murray had beaten Denis Shapovalov (Canada) in three sets.
“Not bad,” said veteran star Murray, who celebrated his 500th victory on hard court, putting him on a list with Novak Djokovic, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer and Andre Agassi: “It’s great to reach 500 before I retire. “
The two-time Wimbledon champion had openly toyed with the idea of retiring time and again recently. “I still love the competition and tennis. But logically it’s getting more and more difficult. I don’t think I have much time left,” said the 36-year-old after his second win of the season: “But I will give my best in the last few months. “
