STRUFF Jan-Lennard

General
BREAKTHROUGH
He reached the fourth round of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time at the 2019 French Open, where he ultimately lost to Serbian player Novak Djokovic in three sets. "[Speaking about his defeat to Novak] I really got the self-confidence for the tour. It was an important day for me. I just believed in myself more than ever before. I knew I can really beat very impressive opponents." (atptour.com, 28 Jun 2021; tennisnet.com, 02 Jun 2021; rolandgarros.com, 02 Jun 2019)

LATE BLOOMER
He says he struggled with the mental side of his game earlier in his career before he began working with coach Carsten Arriens in 2015. He broke into the top 100 in the world rankings for the first time in 2016. "When I switched to Carsten in 2015, I developed as a person and my game grew. I would have loved to have gotten to the top 100 earlier, but I'm not one of the guys that has so much talent, I had to work harder. [Speaking about his earlier career] I clearly made too little of my potential at the time. I had a plan B in my pocket, I graduated from high school and if it hadn't worked out with tennis, I would have studied something. Maybe I would have gone to college in the United States of America or I would have stayed true to tennis in some other way. When I recall my younger self, coming to tennis after high school, I'd tell him, 'Keep on working, it's going to work out. The work, the fun you had, just continue to do the same thing. It's a great journey'." (tennisnet.com, 02 Jun 2021; ispo.com, 27 May 2021; atptour.com, 20 Mar 2020)