ATP Masters in Monte Carlo, 3rd round, Wednesday, 12.04.2023
Admittedly, the German title hopes at the Masters in Monte Carlo, they are very subdued! And if they are, Alexander Zverev is probably the only player who can go far – right?
There is actually a second candidate, one who is playing surprisingly strong here.
While Bwin does not consider him to be without a chance, despite his role as an outsider, I will now reveal in my de Minaur Struff tip why I still do not expect a German success!
Was the performance in Marrakech just a blip? Jan-Lennard Stuff has set himself big goals for 2023, and wants to keep striving higher and higher in the world rankings.
At the Phoenix Challenger, at the latest, it became clear how far he can go on a good day. Struff reached the semi-finals, eliminating Thanasi Kokkinakis and Alexander Bublik, among others.
A little later, in Miami, he would have wished for a better result, because his performance would have been worth it. After surviving the qualifying round, he defeated Fabio Fognini, only a 6-4, 6-7, 4-6 loss to Grigor Dimitrov meant his elimination.
These have been matches that the 32-year-old has to pull himself up on. His debut in the clay season was a failure in Marrakech when he lost 6-3, 4-6, 5-7 to Hugo Gaston. However, he has now been showing for a few days that things are much better.
In Monte Carlo, the player from Warstein had to qualify, where he was not presented with the easiest opponents in Juan Pablo Varillas and Emil Ruusuvuori. But Struff showed why he will soon crack the Top 100.
After his 7-5, 6-2 against Varillas, the score was 7-6, 5-7 against the Finn, so the third set had to decide. Struff conjured up a 6-0 on the grass and celebrated his deserved entry into the main draw.
Here he met the Spaniard Albert Ramos-Vinolas. As if the exhausting qualifying had not existed, Struff snatched a 6-4, 6-3 and saved important energy for the 3rd round against Alex de Minaur.
2018, 2019 and 2020 he dueled the Australian once each, it is 1:2 from the German point of view. But: On clay the two players now meet for the first time, Struff brings ten centimetres more height with him.
Word has spread among our betting providers what the current number 100 shows. The German can definitely live with odds of 1.55 to 2.35 on average, even if he is ultimately the underdog.
Alex de Minaur, ranked 19th in the rankings, is hoping for a strong Masters. The 24-year-old often makes far too little of his opportunities, even in 2023 things could have gone a little better at some points.
In Acapulco he experienced his greatest moment, because after victories over (among others) Holger Rune and Tommy Paul he was crowned tournament winner. Obviously, he had exhausted himself a bit here, because once he arrived in the USA, it was over with winning.
In Indian Wells he failed directly to Marton Fucsovics, a little later in Miami he was also out immediately. In his 7-6, 6-7, 6-7 against Quentin Halys, he fought for hours, but in the end for nothing.
All the more impressive was what he conjured up on the court in the current 1st round of Monte Carlo. The match was over quickly against the old champion Andy Murray, de Minaur managed to win 6-1, 6-3.
He did not give his opponent a single opportunity to break, collecting 80% of the points won on his first serve. Now he has to show that he has his nerves under control in Monte Carlo.
This Masters is not his favourite, he has never made it past the 3rd round. Admittedly, a year ago he also met a real world-class opponent here in Andrey Rublev.
My De Minaur Struff Tip
For Jan-Lennard Struff, a win against Alex de Minaur would be exactly what he wants from this Masters. He regularly puts in strong performances in 2023, but now he is also facing someone from the top 20.
The Australian can celebrate big wins but also clearly fail against underdogs. I expect a close match, but from a German point of view I fear that Struff will not quite make it. In this respect, I advise the following tip:
De Minaur beats Struff!
