Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany Secures First ATP Title at Home Country Event
Struff defeated Taylor Fritz of the United States in the 2024 Bavarian International Tennis Championships final.
Jan-Lennard Struff of Germany, 33, defeated Taylor Fritz of the United States, 26, to win the Men’s Singles title at the 2024 Bavarian International Tennis Championships in Munich, Germany (an ATP 250 event). The score in the final was 7-5 and 6-3 in favor of Struff.
This was the third match Fritz and Struff have played against each other on the ATP Tour - with both players having won a prior meeting. Today’s victory was the first title Struff has won on the 2024 ATP Tour and the first title of his career in single’s competition. He now becomes the sixth player overall to win his first ATP title during the 2024 season. His maiden title came from a clay court event. He was previously a finalist at this tournament in 2021 - which was the first time he ever reached a competition’s final.
Heading into this tournament, Fritz was ranked as the Number 15 tennis player on the 2024 ATP Tour, while Struff carried the Number 28 designation. By winning in Munich, Struff has received 250 points in the overall rankings. Meanwhile, Fritz has picked up 165 points. By reaching the final, Fritz will reclaim the designation of highest-ranked American on the tour.
Holger Rune of Denmark (No. 12) was the tournament’s two-time reigning champion. This year though, he lost against Struff in the semifinals. Fritz and Struff were the event’s third and fourth seeds, respectively. The competition allowed the Top 4 seeds to advance directly to the second round.
Struff arrived in the final after winning against Botic van de Zandschulp of the Netherlands (No. 89), Félix Auger-Aliassime of Canada (No. 34), and Rune. He prevailed against the event’s second, third and fifth seeds to win the title. He also didn’t lose a set throughout the tournament.
In the other half of the main draw, Fritz defeated Alejandro Moro Cañas of Spain (No. 240), Jack Draper of the United Kingdom (No. 46), and Cristian Garín of Chile (No. 106). He knocked out the event’s sixth seed to reach the final.
The revised rankings for the 2024 ATP Tour will be officially released on Monday, April 22. The tour will then play one tournament between April 23 and May 5: the Madrid Open in Madrid, Spain (an ATP Masters 1000 event). The competition will be played on clay courts.
Carlos Alcaraz of Spain (No. 3) is the two-time reigning champion at the Madrid Open. He is looking to defend the title as the event’s second seed this year. Fritz and Struff will also compete as the 12th and 25th seeds, respectively.