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Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany beat fourth seed Hubert Hurkacz of Poland 3-6, 6-3, 6-3 in the semifinal of the 2023 BOSS Open in Stuttgart on Saturday, June 17. The match lasted almost three hours as the 33-year-old German continued his rich vein of form.
He has now reached a couple of finals in the past month, as he lost to Carlos Alcaraz in the final of the Madrid Open in May. However, he will aim to win his maiden singles title on his home soil. Frances Tiafoe, his opponent in the final on Sunday, June 18, will have his task cut out against the German.
On that note, let us take a look at two things that stood out in yesterday's match:
#1. Hubert Hurkacz dominated the first set with his serve and forehand
It was always going to be a battle between two big-serving players, but the Pole had the better share of exchanges in the first set. The one-two combination of his serve and forehand kept winning him points throughout the set.
Hubert Hurkacz's first serve repeatedly breached the 210 kmph mark as he broke Jan-Lennard Struff once to take the lead and then served out the first set. Struff also hit a few big serves, but overall, the Pole was the more dominant of the two in that respect.
#2. Jan-Lennard Struff bounced back by putting pressure on Pole's second serve
Struff was quick to bounce back after dropping the first set. He started exhibiting the full repertoire of forehand shots to put pressure on the 26-year-old Pole. His crosscourt and down-the-line forehands put Hurkacz under pressure.
The Pole tried playing a few high shots, but the German responded with blistering inside-out forehands to win those points. Moreover, as the match progressed, Hurkacz's serve started losing its fizz, allowing the 33-year-old to take advantage. He hit a few solid returns, mostly against the Pole's second serve, to start dominating the proceedings.
He broke the 14th-ranked Pole in the sixth game of the second set before winning it to draw level. The World No. 24 then broke Hurkacz twice more in the final set, including in the final game, to win the match and set up a summit clash with Frances Tiafoe.
Hurkacz fired 21 aces in the match but was able to win only 43% of the points on his second serve, while the German managed a far better 78%, which proved to be the difference in the end.
