Olympic tennis tournament in Paris, 2nd round, Monday, 30.07.2024, 11:00 am
It’s not just Alexander Zverev who will be flying the German flag at the 2024 Olympic Games! Jan-Lennard Struff wants to compete with his compatriot and has already made it past the first round.
On Tuesday, he will face a Frenchman in his second match and is once again a relatively clear favorite. In my Struff Moutet tip, I’ll tell you why I think the veteran has a lot of confidence and would bet on a 2:0 win
Serving at the Olympic Games is something not every tennis pro gets to do. Jan-Lennard Struff was part of the German team in Rio de Janeiro in 2016, but lost directly in round 1.
Now he is attacking for a second time and admittedly had a bit of luck before he even took to the court for the first time. He was actually due to play Alex de Minaur, an absolute top player.
However, the Australian withdrew at short notice and so a new opponent had to be found. He was found and went by the name of Francisco Cabral. The Portuguese was of course much easier to play against and Struff came away with an unchallenged 6-2, 6-2
“It was a better draw for me. But some people grow beyond themselves when they play for their country. That’s why it was important that I was able to play solidly at home,” said the happy winner.
Struff, the world number 34, has already put in some strong performances this year, and that doesn’t just mean his tournament victory in Munich. He reached the semi-finals in Gstaad just before the Olympics.
The 34-year-old is known for his four matches and five tiebreaks. In Halle, he also had five in just three matches. Since the French Open, where the final stage was against de Minaur, a 6-4, 6-4 against Stefanos Tsitsipas was the clearest result
He has only met Corentin Moutet, who is now in the 2nd round, once before in his career. In 2022, the two duelled on hard court, with the Frenchman winning 6-2, 6-4.
Our bookmakers can’t really imagine a result of this kind on Monday. The odds average 1.35 to 3.00, which is clearly in favor of a German success.
Corentin Moutet, 25 years old, had to fight a little harder in his Olympic opener. He prevailed against Sumit Nagal 6-2, 2-6, 7-5, but the match could well have tipped over in the decisive third set
This is the first time the Frenchman has ever served at the Olympic Games. He didn’t make the worst impression at the French Open some time ago, which is also being played here now.
He won three times in four sets and was eventually eliminated in the round of 16 against Jannik Sinner. After all, he managed to take a set off the high-flyer from South Tyrol, something not many players are able to do at the moment.
A short time later, he failed to qualify on the grass in Halle. At the same time, however, the question arises as to how fit Corentin Moutet is, as he has not played a match since this appearance, apart from the first round of the Olympics!
His performance against Sumit Nagal was good enough, but Jan-Lennard Struff is of course a completely different caliber. Incidentally, the Frenchman probably has a bit of a disadvantage in the service game, as the left-hander is only 1.80 m.
My Struff Moutet tip
How far can Jan-Lennard Struff go at these Olympic Games? The Warstein native has already benefited from Alex de Minaur’s retirement, beating a much easier opponent himself.
Corentin Moutet should be a competitor that the German should be able to overcome on a normal day. Since quite a few others have already been clearly defeated this year, I’ll take the risk of an outright victory and make my prediction:
Struff wins 2:0 against Moutet!