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Another exciting tennis season has come to an end and it's time for the 2023 ATP Awards. The awards honour the season's best players and tournaments.
Jan-Lennard Struff has been named the Comeback Player of the Year after overcoming injuries and making strides as he jumped from World No. 167 to World No. 21.
He also reached the finals of the Madrid Masters upsetting the likes of Ben Shelton and Stefanos Tsitsipas. In the finals, he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in three sets. Struff became the first lucky loser to reach a Masters final in history.
Struff reached his second semifinal of the season in Stuttgart, upsetting Tommy Paul and Hubert Hurkacz. He lost to Frances Tiafoe in three sets in the finals. The German ended the year as World No. 25.
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Struff was nominated alongside Dominik Koepfer, Gael Monfils and fellow German Alexander Zverev.
The German recorded a special message to talk about his victory:
“I’m very, very happy and excited to win the Comeback Player of the Year award for 2023. I was nominated with Sascha, Domi and Gael, which for me deserve the award so much as well for their seasons, so congrats for this."
He went on to thank his team and family for their continued support:
"Without you guys it wouldn’t be possible.”
Tennis legend Boris Becker took to Instagram to extend his congratulations to the fellow German. He posted a story saying "Glückwunsch Struffi" which translates to "Congratulations Struffi"
German tennis players who have won Grand Slam singles titles in the Open Era
Germany has been blessed with some of the greatest tennis players over the years. The country has produced a total of 4 Grand Slam singles winners in the Open Era.
Steffi Graf has won 22 Grand Slam singles titles in her career, which is the third most of all time. She is the only player to win all four Grand Slams and the Olympics in a single year (1988). The German has won 4 Australian Opens, 6 French Opens, 7 Wimbledons and 5 US Opens.
Boris Becker won a total of 6 Grand Slam titles in his career, including the Australian Open twice, Wimbledon thrice and the US Open once. He is the youngest winner of the gentlemen singles Wimbledon title clinching it at the age of 17.
Angelique Kerber has 3 Grand Slam titles to her name. She won the Australian Open in 2016, the US Open in 2016 and Wimbledon in 2018. She won a silver medal at the 2016 Olympics. The German was ranked as the World No. 1 for a total of 34 weeks.
Michael Stich won the gentlemen's singles Wimbledon title in 1991, defeating fellow German and 3-time Wimbledon champion Boris Becker in straight sets.
