Wimbledon, 1st round, Monday, 01.07.2024
It’s been almost 30 years since a German last reached the final on the hallowed turf. Time to change that! The third major of the year is finally upon us and we are looking forward to Wimbledon for two weeks.
Germany’s chances are naturally focused on Alexander Zverev, but his compatriots also want to cause a sensation, especially the number 2 in black, red and gold.
She has drawn a tough opponent in the first round, but is still heavily favored. Reason enough to tell you in my Struff Marozsan tip why I would bet on a tiebreak in this match
It was a year ago that Jan-Lennard Struff slipped past a major sensation. We remember: he lost in the first round 6-4, 5-7, 6-4, 6-7, 4-6 – to none other than the eventual champion Carlos Alcaraz!
In 2021, his penultimate appearance here in London, he was very unlucky, losing to Daniil Medvedev in four sets at the start. 2024 should now be the year in which the opponents become easier and the results better.
Struff was drawn against Fabian Marozsan. Not easy, but not too difficult either. Especially when we consider that our bookmakers see the German clearly ahead with average odds of 1.20 to 4.30.
In 2023, the two met for the first and so far only time in a main draw, with the German triumphing very narrowly 7-6, 4-6, 6-4 on hard court. So it’s a tough piece of work to see if that will be the case on Monday too?
Now enough of the historical assessment of his opponent and Wimbledon, how is Struff in form? The 34-year-old failed to beat Alex de Minaur in Paris, and you can’t really blame anyone for that.
The season then began on the faster surface, and how! Although Struff had to retire early in Stuttgart, he came back all the stronger a little later in Halle. The draw? It wasn’t particularly kind to him.
But that didn’t matter to the German at all. In his 6-7, 7-6, 7-6 win over Luca Darderi in Round 1, the fans got the best possible value for their money, before top player Stefanos Tsitsipas awaited.
Would it be close again? Not really, because Struff won 6-4, 6-4! Finally, he had a duel with the world number 1, Jannik Sinner. Anyone who thought Struff had no chance here was very much mistaken
Yes, he lost in the end. But a 2-6, 7-6, 6-7 against the world’s best is really no disgrace! The form is definitely right, everything is ready for a successful tournament in Wimbledon. A defeat at the start is not at all on the cards.
Fabian Marozsan is only four places behind the German in the world rankings, so it’s very surprising that the bookmakers see him lagging so far behind.
Like Struff, the Hungarian is 1.93 meters tall, so they don’t have much in common on serve. Marozsan is 24 years old and only made his debut on the hallowed turf of London last year
The result: surviving qualifying and then losing to David Goffin in Round 1. Stuttgart, Halle and Eastbourne – three tournaments he played in preparation for Wimbledon.
The success? Moderately. In Stuttgart, he lost to Hamad Mededovic in the opening round and a little later in Halle, he only just beat Roman Safiullin. But: The narrow defeat (4-6, 7-6, 3-6) against Jannik Sinner should not be forgotten.
In Eastbourne, there was no sign of the slight upturn in form, losing 2-6, 4-6 to Aleksandar Vukic. The results definitely don’t read like Struff has anything to fear
My Struff Marozsan tip
Will Jan-Lennard Struff be one of the positive surprises at Wimbledon? Born in Warstein, he impressed in his preparation, won against Stefanos Tsitsipas and had Jannik Sinner on the brink of defeat.
A year ago, it wouldn’t have taken much for him to beat Carlos Alcaraz in the first round. Fabian Marozsan, on the other hand, has delivered much weaker results and lost his only direct duel against Struff.
However, he was also very unlucky to lose to Sinner recently. As both players are 1.93 meters tall and the German’s last five matches have included six tiebreaks, my tip for Monday is:
Tie-break for sure!
