ATP Tournament in Stuttgart, 1st Round, Tuesday, 13.06.2023
It was Alexander Zverev again! At the French Open, some German players had big plans, but in contrast to the previous weeks, the results were suddenly much weaker again.
This also applied to the German No. 2, who is now serving in Stuttgart and also wants to score points on grass. The fans on the Neckar are longing for a German champion!
The world number 24 is favoured in her 1st round match at Bet-at-Home, but beware: his opponent won a set against Casper Ruud at the French Open! Therefore, in my Zhang Struff tip, I now reveal why I’m betting on at least one cheer from the Chinese player on Tuesday as well.
First of all, that’s it for the red clay! The French Open is over, and now the stars will only play on the much faster grass in the coming weeks.
Before Wimbledon soon beckons, the preparation tournament in Stuttgart is now on the agenda. Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Matteo Berrettini, in the last few years the names of the champions have been really impressive.
It is now 32 years since this tournament had a winner from its own ranks, over three decades ago a certain Michael Stich won here. Jan-Lennard Struff hopes to go all the way in 2023.
The player from Warstein was actually a kind of secret favourite for Paris, had caused a sensation not only with his final match in Madrid and had beaten several top stars, not least Casper Ruud or Stefanos Tsitsipas.
As soon as the French Open began for him, his lucky streak was over. After a 5-7, 6-1, 3-6, 6-3, 1-6 against Jiri Lehecka, the tournament was already over, but he is still in a great position in the world ranking.
Struff is the new number 24 in the world, but he’s still struggling with the disappointment from the French capital. He now wants to recover from that on grass, meeting Zhizhen Zhang for the second time in 2023.
In the Miami qualifier, the German had prevailed 6-4, 6-2, now Struff wants a second win. He already reached the semi-finals in Stuttgart in 2019, and he is aiming for the same result now.
With odds of 1.40 to 2.95, he is in the lead with our betting providers, but be careful: Zhang is definitely not to be underestimated! The Chinese is making his first start on the Neckar, but was able to convince in Paris in contrast to Struff.
He made it to the 3rd round and even managed to take a set off the eventual finalist Casper Ruud. He is just as tall as his German opponent and was able to convince with 80% successful first serves against Ruud.
On clay, the 26-year-old has put in a number of fantastic performances in recent weeks, and he has also managed to put Denis Shapovalov, Taylor Fritz and Cameron Norrie in their place.
Now, however, he has to show that he can also do it on grass. He has built up a lot of self-confidence in the past few months, so that could certainly carry over to the new surface.
My Zhang Struff tip
How has Jan-Lennard Struff coped with his very early exit at the French Open? The new world number 24 is actually capable of a lot more, which makes him all the more motivated to compete in Stuttgart from Tuesday.
He has already reached the semi-finals there once, but will be facing a very dangerous opponent in the 1st round. Zhizhen Zhang has been playing very well for weeks and also took a set off Casper Ruud. Since not everything runs smoothly from the start on a new surface, I’m now betting:
Struff won’t win against Zhang
