Veterans’ duel in Beijing
Perhaps the tennis season is the most exhausting in all of professional sports. But what is certain is that the tennis year is generally one of the longest. There are still a good two months to go before the tennis stars can finally go on vacation. Even though the really big tournaments of the year are already history, our Jan-Lennard Struff vs. Stan Wawrinka prediction shows that there are still some highlights to come.
The China Open in Beijing is the overture for the Masters in Shanghai next week. At the end of October, there is still the 1000 tournament in Paris-Bercy. The ATP Finals and the Davis Cup final round off the tennis year. It will be interesting to see what role our two veteran professionals will play this season.
Jan-Lennard Struff has at least set himself the goal of bringing the Davis Cup back to Germany for the first time since 1993. Until then, however, the Warsteiner’s main focus is on gaining a few more world ranking points in order to make it onto the seed list at next year’s Australian Open. Currently, the 34-year-old is only ranked 38th in the ATP ranking. That could ultimately be a little too low. At least the first prediction in the duel between Jan-Lennard Struff and Stan Wawrinka is that the German will win.
However, it is to be feared that whoever wins this first-round duel will only be able to perform in Beijing for a short time. In all likelihood, world number one Jannik Sinner will be waiting in the second round.
Jan-Lennard Struff – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking position: 38
Position in the seeding: unseeded
Until the end of the clay court series in Europe, which culminated in the French Open at Roland Garros, Jan-Lennard Struff actually performed quite well. In Munich, the Warsteiner won his first ATP tournament at the tender age of 34. However, we cannot help but notice that his form then dropped significantly after reaching the semi-finals in Gstaad.
Struff has lost three matches in a row
Maybe it wasn’t really helpful to compete at the Olympic Games in Paris when Jan-Lennard Struff was unable to compete in the second round of the singles competition due to injury. In the doubles, he and Dominik Köpfer lost in the quarterfinals and only just missed out on the medal round. After the matches, the Warsteiner actually only played two more matches under competitive conditions.
At the Masters in Cincinnati, he lost in the first round to Stefanos Tsitsipas. The US Open was also over after just one match, after a defeat to Laslo Djere. With three defeats in a row, it can be seen as a gift that the German was nominated for the Laver Cup, the tennis competition between Europe and the rest of the world.
However, Struffi did not get to play and was only allowed to celebrate the European victory as a substitute, even though he was very happy to be there at all. So three defeats certainly weigh heavily on him. Nevertheless, in view of the even weaker record of his opponent, we are still looking at the odds for a victory for Jan-Lennard Struff in the duel between the Warstein-born player and Stan Wawrinka.
Stan Wawrinka – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking position: 233
Position in the seeding list: unseeded
Stan Wawrinka no longer pays much attention to the world rankings. The Swiss is no longer playing for prize money or other merits, but just for fun. Stan the Man no longer has to prove himself to anyone, even though his successes have been limited in recent years. The man from the French-speaking region of Switzerland has three Grand Slam titles to his name and an impressive $37 million in prize money.
Wawrinka has lost his consistency
Nevertheless, Stan Wawrinka apparently does not yet see the time to hang up his racquet. The Swiss has only won five matches on the tour this year. He has not managed two consecutive victories for more than a year. The Swiss is still able to deliver good matches, but he can no longer consistently deliver these performances.
However, there are good reasons for this. Stan Wawrinka is now 39 years old, making him the oldest player on the ATP Tour. In addition, there are numerous minor injuries that repeatedly get in the way of getting into a flow. Currently, the Swiss is still listed with a protected ranking and is happy to get a wild card again, as he is doing in Beijing. But if he has to go through the grind of qualifying, we can imagine that it will be the end of the road for him.
The last time the Swiss played in an ATP tournament was at the US Open. In the first round, he lost 0-3 to Italian Mattia Bellucci, who is not even in the top 100 of the ATP rankings. He was then supposed to compete in St. Tropez, but once again canceled due to injury. It is currently feared that the Swiss will not compete in Beijing either.
Jan-Lennard Struff – Stan Wawrinka Direct comparison / H2H record
It does sound a bit strange. Jan-Lennard Struff is 34 years old, and his Swiss opponent is even five years older. Accordingly, both players have been on the ATP tour for a long time. Nevertheless, there is only one direct duel between the two opponents in the history books to date.
The only encounter was eight years ago. It was the second round at the Masters in Paris-Bercy in 2016. Stan Wawrinka secured the first set 6-3. Jan-Lennard Struff then stabilized his service. The second and third sets were then decided in tiebreaks, and the Warsteiner had the upper hand in both.
Jan-Lennard Struff – Stan Wawrinka Tip
Jan-Lennard Struff and Stan Wawrinka have really not been at their best in recent weeks. The Warsteiner has lost all three of his last matches. Perhaps being a sparring partner and substitute at the Laver Cup has given him a chance to recharge his batteries, and he is now entering the final weeks of the season with a tailwind.
The Swiss has not won two matches in a row in over a year. In fact, Stan the Man has only managed five victories on the ATP Tour this season. We think that the 39-year-old’s time as a professional tennis player is slowly coming to an end. We therefore also believe that in the match between Jan-Lennard Struff and Stan Wawrinka, a tip in the Bwin app for a win by the German should be the right one.
