Will Struffi stand up to the upstart?
For the eighth time in total, Jan-Lennard Struff has successfully qualified for the Australian Open. So far, however, the player from Warstein has only won one of his eight singles matches in the main draw of the first Grand Slam tournament of the calendar year. Now, of all times, he is also a little unlucky with the draw when he comes up against a promising upstart in round one.
Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp also failed in the first round on his debut at the Australian Open a year ago, but just made a splash in the autumn when he stormed into the quarter-finals of the 2021 US Open. Accordingly, in the run-up to the duel between Botic van de Zandschulp and Jan-Lennard Struff, the odds are swinging in the Dutchman’s direction.
At the preparatory tournament, the Dutchman reached the quarter-finals of an ATP Tour 250 tournament in Melbourne with two easy 2-0 victories. Struffi himself, meanwhile, lost two of his three singles at the ATP Cup in Sydney. However, the combative Warsteiner should not be written off yet.
We assume that Struffi will give his opponent a tough fight. The betting on Botic van de Zandschulp against Jan-Lennard Struff is correspondingly interesting: more than 37.5 games will have to be played before the winner is decided.
Botic van de Zandschulp – Statistics & current form
Current ranking in the world: 56
Seeded position: unseeded
The already 26-year-old Dutchman Botic van de Zandschulp is one of the late-comers. The man from Wageningen, who for years only played in the lower-ranked Future and Challenger Tour, only made his Grand Slam debut a year ago.
He lost 3-0 to Carlos Alcaraz in round one at the 2021 Australian Open before a remarkable year helped him to a late breakthrough.
Van de Zandschulp won 16 of the 26 singles in 2021
The Dutchman played a total of 26 singles on the ATP Tour in the 2021 season, even winning 16 of those matches. The big highlights: his run that took him all the way to the quarter-finals at the 2021 US Open, as well as his entry into the semifinals of the St. Petersburg Open, when he scored his biggest win to date in the quarter-finals against Andrey Rublev.
Because both successes date back to the autumn of last year and, moreover, to the hard court that is now being played on in Melbourne Park, some experts believe that the number 57 in the ATP world rankings can also make a run now.
Tough tournament tree for the Dutchman
The fact is, however, that van de Zandschulp’s path would be extremely rocky even if he were to win his opening match. Already in round two, Ugo Humbert or Richard Gasquet will be a strong opponent, before local hero Nick Kyrgios or even Daniil Medvedev, who is one of the top favourites according to the Australian Open overall winner forecast, could play in the third round.
However, the bookmakers believe that the Dutchman will at least make it into the second round.
Jan-Lennard Struff – Statistics & current form
Current ranking in the world rankings: 50
Position in the seedings: unseeded
The 31-year-old German Jan-Lennard Struff is one of the most successful German tennis professionals behind superstar Alexander Zverev. However, the Warsteiner, who can only look back on five overall victories in Challenger Tour tournaments so far, cannot yet boast any major successes.
Only at the ATP Munich 2021 did Struffi reach the final, but he lost 0:2 on clay against Nikoloz Basilashvili, potentially his first title on the ATP Tour.
Win percentage of just 13% at the Australian Open
It has to be said that the clay court suits the 31-year-old best. He has won 60% of his Challenger Tour tournaments on this surface and has also reached the last 16 of a Grand Slam tournament twice at the French Open (2019 and 2021).
By comparison, he has only made it past the first round once in seven attempts at the hard-court Grand Slam tournament Down Under, when he finished in the second round in 2018. At the Australian Open, that gives him a pitiful win percentage of just 13%.
Struff has won just 26 of the 56 singles he has played in 2021
Again, the betting on Botic van de Zandschulp’s first-round win over Jan-Lennard Struff is very bad. After all, Struffi also experienced a not too successful year in 2021, in which he could only win 26 of his 56 played singles.
For the first time since 2018, he thus had a negative record again, which will also be on the books after the ATP Cup 2022 in the new year. After one win from three matches, he enters the Australian Open with a 33% win percentage.
Botic van de Zandschulp – Jan-Lennard Struff Direct comparison / H2H record
Never before has there been a rated singles between both athletes. Thus, there is no “head to head” data available that could be used in the forecast for Botic van de Zandschulp against Jan-Lennard Struff
Botic van de Zandschulp – Jan-Lennard Struff Tip
Generally, Jan-Lennard Struff brings the advantage in terms of experience. The Warsteiner has been part of the ATP Tour for years, has already reached a final of a singles tournament and has successfully qualified for the main draw of a Grand Slam tournament 32 times. However, the German has never reached the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam, which Botic van de Zandschulp achieved at the US Open in 2021.
Even with a view to the Dutchman’s recent upswing, Struffi will have to make do with the underdog role in the opening match. However, that should not stop the combative Warsteiner from putting up a good fight.
We are expecting a fiercely contested opening match that could well go on a bit longer. We therefore recommend betting on over 37.5 games, for which betting odds of 1.76 are available on Botic van de Zandschulp against Jan-Lennard Struff.
