After playing two shaky matches in which he needed three sets to win, Jannik Sinner played a third one in which he again needed three sets to down Jan Lennard Struff.
The German is a very good grass player and a very good player overall. He’s had some great moments at the Halle Open because he knows the facilities well, having lived near the city for a very long time. In this match, Struff put on another solid display, forcing the Italian to play three sets once more.
Sinner started this match befitting of a world number one. We haven’t really seen that level so far since he became the no. 1 player but even this match wasn’t perfect. He dropped a set in both of his first two matches in Halle, and it happened again.
He bested Struff 6-2 in the opening set by utterly dominating the rallies. Struff didn’t serve as well, but Sinner was just spectacular, winning points on his opponent’s serve comfortably. On his own serve, he barely lost any points as it was just a high level of tennis that he displayed.
The second set opened more stable for the German, as he was able to avoid getting broken early. He was still losing points on his serve easily because Sinner was just that much better in the rallies. Anytime a rally developed, Struff struggled to win it.
He had some moments where he looked like he put some pressure on Sinner, but that was relatively short-lived. Overall, the Italian was just the sharper player, but he still lost the second set. He had a huge chance ot break midway through the second set but didn’t take it, settling on a tie-break. It proved a huge mistake as Struff played a wonderful tie-break to win it 7-1.
That sent the match into the decider which Sinner really didn’t need to play. He’s been complicating matches this week, and he’ll need to get rid of it by the time Wimbledon rolls around. The third set was very close, with very few chances for either player, so it ended up in a tie-break.
Struff started it with an unforced error and never found a good rhythm, losing the tie-break 3-7, which meant that Sinner won the match 6-2, 6-7(1), 7-6(3).