Will Struffi clear the first hurdle in Bulgaria?
It has been impossible to imagine the ATP World Ranking Top 100 without Jan-Lennard Struff since 2016. The German did not miss a single Grand Slam tournament between the French Open in 2016 and the Australian Open in 2022. However, since his injury break in the spring, which cost the Warsteiner the entire clay-court season, the 32-year-old has increasingly been suffering from the bug.
Struffi has accordingly set his sights high for the Sofia Open 2022, where the German first had to get through two qualifying rounds in one piece to punch his ticket to the main draw. Nevertheless, the bookmakers think the 32-year-old has a good chance in the first round. In the run-up to the match between Jan-Lennard Struff and Dusan Lajovic, the odds are clearly in favour of the player from Warstein.
Struff is leading the head-to-head comparison against the Serb, who is not exactly playing his best tennis season with eleven wins from 33 completed singles and has had complaints recently, with 2:0 victories. However, the duels between the two athletes were not really clear-cut. The decision was always made in the third set.
Accordingly, a lot of value is offered by betting on Jan-Lennard Struff against Dusan Lajovic that the first-round match at the indoor hard-court tournament in the Bulgarian capital will also have a certain length. We therefore recommend betting on over 22.5 games.
Jan-Lennard Struff – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 133
Seeded List Position: Qualifier
The 32-year-old German Jan-Lennard Struff competed almost exclusively on the ATP Challenger Tour and in the ITF until 2016. Then, however, he established himself permanently in the top 100 of the ATP world rankings, which regularly opened the door to major tournaments for him.
However, a foot injury following the Sunshine Double in March 2022 caused the Warsteiner to drop significantly in the rankings. After missing the clay-court season, the results were no longer right either.
Not quite back to his old self since the comeback
Although Struffi delivered a spectacular match at the Wimbledon Championships shortly after his comeback, where he was only narrowly defeated by Spanish high-flyer Carlos Alcaraz 2:3 in the first round.
After that, however, the only really convincing performance by the German was at a Challenger tournament in Braunschweig, which he won in July with five straight 2-0 victories. Most recently, Struff did not appear in the main draw at any of the major tournaments in the entire US Open Series and even had to play in the qualifying in the run-up to the US Open, where he surprisingly failed to reach the main draw after being defeated by Enzo Couacaud (ATP 193).
Recently with more convincing performances
In total, the 32-year-old has just 17 rated singles on the ATP Tour in 2022, of which Struffi could only win five matches. Nevertheless, Jan-Lennard Struff’s betting on his sixth win against Dusan Lajovic is under good omens.
Not only did the German manage a 2-1 win over Benjamin Bonzi (ATP 53) in the Davis Cup preliminary round last week, but he also marched very confidently through the qualifying rounds at the Sofia Open with two straight 2-0 wins. Accordingly, the hope that he will now succeed in turning the trend around is justified.
Dusan Lajovic – Statistics & current form
Current ranking in the world rankings: 86
Position in the seedings: unseeded
The 32-year-old Serb Dusan Lajovic has only managed to win the ATP Umag 2019 so far and has been waiting for another major triumph on the ATP Tour ever since.
The man from Belgrade has not missed a single Grand Slam tournament since the Australian Open 2016. However, his last few appearances were not really spectacular. At the last seven Grand Slams, Lajovic only won four matches and was eliminated in the second round at the latest.
Recently also on the Challenger Tour without resounding success
The Serb, who is so experienced on clay courts, also had to throw in the towel at the US Open due to a minor injury. For Lajovic, too, it was then a case of taking a step back and recharging his batteries on the Challenger Tour.
However, the 32-year-old could not really convince last week in Genoa. After three wins in a row, he surprisingly lost 2-0 to underdog Andrea Pellegrino (ATP 164) in the semifinals.
Won only eleven of 33 singles in 2022
Apart from a Davis Cup appearance against Seong-chan Hong (ATP 467), Lajovic’s last singles win on the ATP Tour came in July 2022 in Kitzbühel. The Serb, who has only eleven wins from 33 singles matches this year, is in correspondingly poor form going into the Sofia Open.
Jan-Lennard Struff – Dusan Lajovic Direct comparison / H2H-balance
Head to head: 2:0
The two athletes have faced each other twice so far and on both occasions Jan-Lennard Struff has held his own – albeit only 2-1 in each case
Jan-Lennard Struff – Dusan Lajovic Tip
When it comes to Jan-Lennard Struff against Dusan Lajovic, the prediction goes to the German, who might be over the long form slump after his foot injury. At least his recent three singles wins gave encouragement that a good run is possible at the Sofia Open. His Serbian first-round opponent, on the other hand, has been struggling with ailments of his own lately and also experienced a fall in the rankings.
Because the German also leads the direct comparison with 2:0 wins, it makes perfect sense to bet on Struffi. Even more value, however, is offered by betting on over 22.5 games, which ultimately covers most eventualities and also takes into account the fact that the two duels between the two players so far have always gone the full distance.
