THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

June 27, 2022

Jan-Lennard Struff

Press Conference

C. ALCARAZ/J.L. Struff

4-6, 7-5, 4-6, 7-6, 6-4

THE MODERATOR: What are your thoughts on the match today?

JAN-LENNARD STRUFF: Yeah, it was a tough loss. It was a very good match. Very high quality. In the end, some little margins made the difference.

I'm happy the way I played. I'm happy the way I competed after two months' injury, be back on tour.

Yeah, but the loss hurts for sure today. But well done to Carlos. It was a good match.

THE MODERATOR: Questions?

Q. What point do you feel was sort of the turning point for you in that match?

JAN-LENNARD STRUFF: Yeah, I think definitely in the tiebreak, the passing shot. I don't know how he hit it, that one.

I think that doesn't happen that often. That was just amazing, the passing. I think I did everything right in the point. I put pressure, went to the net, covered the line, covered crosscourt, but not this angle.

Yeah, I actually watched his second-round match against Albert Ramos in French Open where he hit one like this down the line on breakpoint in the fifth set, break down, and I was just jumping out of the couch. I couldn't believe it. Was screaming to my girlfriend, like, Did you see that? She was, like, What happened? And I said, like, That's just amazing.

Today he passed me like that, crosscourt. That was just too good. That changed the tiebreak. In the fifth it was still level, and, yeah, at the end he broke me, and then that's it. Yeah.

Q. Running a player like Alcaraz so close, does that kind of give you inspiration for what comes next?

JAN-LENNARD STRUFF: Definitely. This season has been tough for me. I played not good at the beginning, had the injury, and now I'm back to this level. For me it was good to see I could go four hours and my body feels good. I can compete with him, good level.

We didn't know how to expect him on grass, because he played once Wimbledon. He didn't play grass tournament before. But he played very good. I played good match, and I take a lot of positive things with me.