Jan-Lennard Struff is now the highest-ranked German male tennis player but his respect and appreciation for Alexander Zverev remains as high as ever.
This Monday, 33-year-old Struff achieved a new career-high ranking of No 26 in the world.
Zverev, who had been Germany’s top-ranked male player for seven years, continued his ranking plummet as he is now ranked at No 27 in the world.
However, Struff acknowledged Zverev is the best player from his country and suggested this would never happen if not for Zverev’s long injury break in 2022.
“No, that’s irrelevant to me. I look at myself and am happy about my results and the best world ranking position of my career. In Sascha, we have someone who has been the clear number 1 in Germany for years. The fact that I’m now so close to him is only due to his long injury and the fact that I didn’t have any points to defend. I’m sure he’ll soon be up the rankings again,” Struff told the German Tennis Federation website.
Struff replaces Zverev as the top-ranked German male player
In February, Struff was ranked at No 156 in the world.
But then, Struff made the Monte Carlo Masters quarterfinal as a qualifier.
After a strong Monte Carlo run, Struff also made the Madrid Masters final as a qualifier.
Those two results helped Struff make a major jump on the ATP rankings list and achieve his current career-high ranking.
“I can’t believe how it’s gone so far. I had a tough last year, started the season at the 150th position, and then immediately injured myself again in Australia. It’s unbelievable that I’m now in 28th place just a few weeks later. How fast that went up is really crazy. There is no secret recipe for this, just hard work and 100 percent commitment,” Struff said.
It remains to be seen if Struff can continue his fine form at the French Open.