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Two weeks ago, Jan-Lennard Struff fell at the final hurdle of the Madrid Open qualification rounds. The top seed in the draw, the German lost in straight sets to Aslan Karatsev. But over the last fortnight, not only did Struff flip the script on Karatsev, he also managed to post a career-best by reaching his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final.
The German received a lucky loser entry to the main Madrid Open draw, and there was no looking back after that. Struff found his best tennis post-qualifiers, ousting the likes of Karatsev, Ben Shelton and Stefanos Tsitsipas en route to the summit clash.
In the final, he came up just short against top seed and home favorite Carlos Alcaraz.
Struff reflecting on his whirlwind two weeks at the Madrid Open during his post-match on-court interview. He dubbed the progress from losing in the qualies to reaching the final "incredible," and thanked the fans for their love and support.
"It's been an incredible journey for me, losing qualies here, coming in as a lucky loser into the event," Jan-Lennard Struff said. "It was just amazing to get a second chance. Thank you for your support, everyone. Thank you for coming out, thank you."
Struff was also quick to congratulate Alcaraz on his sensational run in Madrid, calling the Spaniard's home triumph "another amazing victory."
"My Spanish is not that good, so we may need someone to translate it, please, yeah, first of all, Carlos, well done," Jan Lennard Struff said. "Another amazing victory. Congrats to you and your team, well done, all the best for the future. And I would like to thank Feli. It's an amazing tournament here."
"I felt really, really welcome. It was an amazing two weeks for me," he continued. "Thank you."
Jan-Lennard Struff sets eyes on Rome after Madrid Open run
Looking to build on his run at the Madrid Open, Jan-Lennard Struff has now set his eyes on the Italian Open in Rome. Set to reunite with his coach Marvin Netuschil in the Italian capital, the German is upbeat about his prospects.
He took out time to thank his team during the on-court interview, saying that even though his trainer and fitness coach were not with him for the Madrid Open, the work put in by them was reflected in his results.
"I would like to take the opportunity to thank my team," Jan-Lennard Struff said. "Thanks Marvin, my coach there, Corrado Blinding Climber in the box. I would like to thank my other coach at home and my fitness coach which [who] are not here, but coming next week. So thank you so much for the work you put in. It means a lot."
