Jan-Lennard Struff beats Novak Djokovic in Basel, first win in nine meetings

The result

Jan-Lennard Struff, 36 and ranked 47th, beat Novak Djokovic 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (5) in the round of 16 of the ATP 500 tournament in Basel on Thursday, 29 October. La Libre puts the match at 2 hours and 35 minutes and describes the hard-court event as carrying a purse of 2,584,155 dollars. Djokovic, ranked 12th in the world according to the same outlet, had won all eight earlier meetings with Struff, and the German had taken only one set in them. The win is Struff's first over the Serb, and he converted his third match point to close it, according to N-tv. Struff now plays Nuno Borges (ATP 53) in the quarter-finals, after Borges beat Casper Ruud 1-6, 6-3, 6-4.

How the match turned

Djokovic took the opening set on a tie-break, which Polsat Sport gives as 7-4. Struff then broke serve in the 12th game of the second set and won it 7-5, having taken Djokovic's serve for the first time in the match at 6-5, according to N-tv.

The decider had no breaks of serve, and Struff won the tie-break 7-5 to finish the contest. Polsat counts 27 aces for Struff against 21 for Djokovic. N-tv describes Djokovic as visibly frustrated during a discussion with his coach Viktor Troicki in the final set.

Struff27

Djokovic21

Struff

27 aces

Djokovic

21 aces

Data from the article text

What is at stake for Djokovic

Djokovic entered the tournament because he needed points to reach the ATP Finals in Turin, which are open to the eight best players in the Race, the year-to-date ranking. Polsat Sport reports that Jannik Sinner's knee injury ruled him out early, and that the ninth player in the Race will ultimately take the final place in Turin. Djokovic was 11th in that ranking, nearly 300 points behind Rafael Jodar, who holds the last qualifying place. Polsat also places Alex de Minaur just above Djokovic in the Race, and expects Djokovic's position to become considerably harder after Thursday's match. Before the match, 20 Minuten reported that a Basel title would have been Djokovic's 103rd on ATP level and would have equalled Roger Federer's record, a chance the defeat ends in Basel.

Struff's form and next match

Struff reached the final of the European Open in Brussels, according to La Libre, and beat his Davis Cup teammate Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 6-3 in his opening match in Basel, per N-tv. Daniel Altmaier, 28, lost in the round of 16 to eighth seed Jiri Lehecka 5-7, 4-6, and missed a second straight quarter-final, N-tv reports. Altmaier is still in contention for the last place in Germany's Davis Cup squad for the finals in Bologna, 24 to 29 November. Struff's next opponent, Nuno Borges, is ranked 53rd and beat Casper Ruud in straight sets in his own round of 16 match.