Jan-Lennard Struff sent top-seed and defending champion Karen Khachanov packing on Thursday at the Almaty Open.
The 35-year-old German rallied for a 4-6, 7-6(5), 6-3 victory over the world No.10 thanks to a power-packed serving performance that allowed him to come through even though he didn’t see his first break point until one hour and 40 minutes into the match.
Struff turned the match in the second-set tiebreak, then broke Khachanov for the first time to open the deciding set. He then saved a break point to hold for 3-1 and pushed through a four-deuce game to hold for 4-2.
Struff converted his fourth match point, breaking Khachanov in the final game to set a quarterfinal with No.8-seeded Corentin Moutet.
Former world No.21 (Currently 98) Struff hit 12 aces and didn’t face a break point in sets two and three. He improves to 2-3 lifetime against Khachanov.
Earlier in the day Daniil Medvedev came through a tight battle with Adam Walton to win 7-5, 7-6(0). Medvedev was in trouble in the second set, as Walton had five chances to take a double-break 5-1 lead, but the former World No.1 dug in and played great tennis down the stretch.
He says he enjoys the home court vibes at Almaty, with Russian speaking fans in the house rooting him on.
“I was very nervous during this match, which is probably not typical for me,” he said. “I mean, everyone gets nervous during matches — you have break points, you feel the pressure. But in this match, I was under a lot of pressure that I kind of put on myself, for reasons I won’t go into. For example, this is probably the tournament that’s closest to being a “home” tournament for me, and that adds some pressure too — people watching, cheering in Russian.”
Medvedev will face Fabian Marozsan in the quarterfinals.
Alex Michelsen and Shintaro Mochizuki also advanced on Thursday – they will face one another in the quarterfinals.
Michelsen defeated Aleksandar Vukic 6-3, 6-2, while Mochizuki defeated fourth-seeded Luciano Darderi 6-3, 6-3. It was a meaningful victory for the former junior No.1, and with it he is assured of making his Top 100 debut on Monday – he is up to No.92 in the live rankings.
