Jan-Lennard Struff reaches the round of 16 at Wimbledon

The 36-year-old has now reached the round of 16 at Wimbledon for the first time; his best result had previously been reaching the third round, and he had achieved this three times. When asked about the fact that he – currently number 74 in the world rankings – had a somewhat changeable season, Struff said: “Tennis is sometimes a hard sport, but the most important thing is to never give up and always stick with it.” And so Struff, the all-purpose weapon of the German Tennis Association, who is always there when national coach Michael Kohlmann needs him, has developed into the German faction’s best stickler in recent years. Whenever it looks like he might soon fall low in the world rankings, he surprises with good performances that catapult him further up the rankings. That’s how it was in 2025, that’s how it is in 2026.

Struff catches up in every set

How unpleasant the year was for Struff was also evident from the fact that he ended his collaboration with coach Markus Wislperger in mid-April. And so, just like at the French Open, his former long-time coach Carsten Arriens is sitting in his box in London, on Court No. 3 this time it was the first row behind the baseline. The two had agreed that they would only form a duo until the end of the grass season. Struff then wants to think of a new solution.

Struff’s path to the round of the last 16 players is remarkable. In the first round he had forced the Argentinian Sebastián Báez into five sets and then spoke of a “dirty victory”; he meant that in a positive way. He didn’t play his best tennis but looked for ways to score. He then defeated the American Brandon Nakashima in a game that was canceled on Wednesday evening due to darkness and continued on Thursday. He won three of the four tiebreaks played in this match. And against Medvedev, who is not at his best on grass, he prevailed again in two tiebreaks, the deciding games at 6:6. This time his proven fighting spirit accompanied his strong nerves. In the first set, Struff was 1:3 behind, in the second set 2:5, in the third set also 2:5, with Medvedevs even being two breaks ahead. Struff kept motivating himself and showed Arriens his fist as a sign that he was sticking with it. Shouts of “Struffi” could be heard again and again.

In the round of 16 he will face Poland’s Hubert Hurkacz on Sunday. French Open winner Alexander Zverev is back in action on Saturday and will play against Marcos Giron from the USA in the third round.