By Cheryl Jones
Jan-Lennard Struff’s string of wins at Halle still stands at one. Today, he faced Karen Khachanov, who is the new Russian on the block – oops, tour. A three set match was the decider. Even though Struff was the hometown favourite, the Russian inserted the appropriate strokes to finally vanquish his opponent in the end. It took an hour and forty-four minutes for the Russian to close out the match. The crowd noise that was peppered with gasps along with expected cheers must have helped Struff maintain his momentum for many miraculous shots – but there was not so much noise for Khachanov who finally came away with the win, 6-3, 3-6, 6-4.
Khachanov came into my field of vision last year at the Gerry Weber Open. His clean strokes and surprisingly mature game impressed me. I have been watching his results this year, but unfortunately, he has had some disappointing matches. (Most likely some form of sophomore slump.)
He is twenty-three years old and he has shown himself to be a steady kind of guy. This time he is contesting at the Noventi Open, actually at the same place as last year, just a different moniker. He was supposed to face Damir Dzumhur on Monday, but Dzumhur who is from Bosnia Herzegovina injured his shoulder. (The ATP provided the information on the injury, but when questioned as to which shoulder, the answer was still, just shoulder. Assuming that since he is right handed, it was his right shoulder, since most players have two of them, it might have helped explain the injury and the subsequent withdrawal.) Instead, Khachanov faced 19 year-old Serbian, Miomir Kecmanovic who was a “Lucky Loser”. Khachanov obviously triumphed on Monday, 7-6, 6-4 to put him on the court today.
Once again, even though the Russian won, there was no after match interview available, but Struff was brought to the interview room and questions and answers followed. Struff managed to compliment his opponent saying that always in tennis there is a winner and a loser. Today, Struff was the loser.
He mentioned that he had been hopeful after yesterday’s win against Laslo Djere of Serbia (6-4, 6-4). Players enter matches with a mindset that is hopeful for the specific match. Struff was hopeful that his ranking would climb to 32, instead of 35 where he now stands. Wimbledon is up next, and the higher ranking would have been a boon to the German. Each of the Slams seed the top thirty-two ranked players. It is insurance in a way that assures players they aren’t going to face any of those other top players in the first round. Now, the fates will have to provide some good fortune to the German who has trained hard and worked for many years to advance in the rankings.
Khachanov is sitting pretty for that Wimbledon draw. His ranking is 9. It won’t matter if he slides a few places with a loss. Just as Struff said, there is always going to be a winner and a loser. Everyone hopes for a “W”. Simply put, why would anyone enter a contest to be a loser? There are no runners up in tennis until the final ball is struck in the final game of the final set. The end goal is to win and keep winning. Khachanov will remain until his next challenger stands across the net. That challenger will be David Goffin of Belgium.
Today Goffin defeated Radu Albot of Moldavia (4-6, 6-4, 6-3) in the first match on Center Court. The stands were filled with women who were here for Ladies’ Day. The crowd was huge and very vocal. No one held back when it came time to cheer for the hometown favourite – Struff. The excitement, as always was accompanied by special treatment for ladies who had gathered at Halle, just as they always had for the past twenty-six years. Smiles abounded.
All in all, it was a good day for tennis in Halle. The Noventi Open is holding on to a tried and true recipe for successful tennis entertainment that was passed on to them by the Gerry Weber Open. Tomorrow will bring out a real crowd favourite who isn’t German. That would be Roger Federer, the Swiss Maestro, who is likely the best player of our time, and perhaps any time.
