Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Jan-Lennard Struff – Breakdown and Prediction

May 11, 2024

Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Jan-Lennard Struff: ATP Rome – Second round

Two players in their prime will face each other in the second round of the ATP Rome.

Stefanos Tsitsipas Profile

Stefanos Tsitsipas is ranked eighth in the world, and his career high was No. 3. The Greek is 21-8 for the season and 10-2 on clay.

He is coming into this match after a two-week break, as he lost the first match in Madrid 6-4, 6-4, to Thiago Monteiro. The week before, Tsitsipas made it to the final in Barcelona, where he lost to Casper Ruud. That was the second consecutive final between the two after Tsitsipas beat Ruud to win the title in Monte Carlo.

Earlier in the season, he also lost to Ruud in the Los Cabos semifinal.

This is the seventh appearance in Rome for Tsitsipas, and his best result was the final in 2022, where he lost to Novak Djokovic.

Jan-Lennard Struff Profile

Jan-Lennard Struff is 41st in the rankings, 20 spots lower than his career high. The German is 15-10 for the season and 9-2 on clay surface.

He is coming off a 6-4, 6-4 win against Pedro Cachin in the first round.

Last week in Madrid, Struff pushed Carlos Alcaraz to the limit, losing in the decisive tiebreak in the round of 16 match. The week before, Struff won his first-ever ATP title as he defeated Taylor Fritz in the final in Munich.

This is his fifth appearance in Rome, and his best result was the round of 16 in 2019.

Head-to-Head Tsitsipas leads 4-3

Struff vs Tsitsipas 7-6, 5-7, 6-3 (2023 ATP Madrid, quarterfinal)
Tsitsipas vs Struff 6-7, 6-3, 6-4 (2020 ATP Vienna, first round)
Tsitsipas vs Struff 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 (2020 ATP Dubai, quarterfinal)
Struff vs Tsitsipas 6-4, 6-7, 7-6 (2019 ATP Cincinnati, second round)
Struff vs Tsitsipas 6-4, 3-6, 6-2 (2019 ATP Barcelona, round of 16)
Tsitsipas vs Struff 7-6, 6-4 (2019 ATP Sofia, second round)
Tsitsipas vs Struff 6-2, 6-3 (2017 Genoa Challenger, quarterfinal)

Prediction and Conclusion

These two players know each other very well, as this will be their eighth head-to-head match. Both of them are having a solid season and have already won titles. Tistispas has been the better overall player, and he leads the head-to-head matchup, but Struff is the one who won their final encounter. Looking back at their matches, the last five have gone to the third set, and we expect nothing but a big fight today as well. Both of them will keep their serve most of the match, which will take it over 22.5 games in total.