Jan-Lennard Struff had faced Novak Djokovic eight times and come away empty-handed every time, usually without much of a fight. On Thursday in Basel the German veteran finally turned the tables, coming from a set down to beat the fourth seed at the Swiss Indoors. He lost the opening tiebreak 4-7, took the second set 7-5 and closed it out by edging the decider 7-6.
The serve did most of the talking. Struff, ranked 27th in the world, hammered 27 aces in a match lasting 156 minutes and did not drop serve once, fending off six break chances. After dropping the opening tiebreak he snatched the second set late, then held his nerve in a final-set breaker. Going all out was the only option, he explained afterwards, adding that his earlier defeats against the Serb had been “very, very easy” for Djokovic.
For Djokovic, whose last Basel appearance dates back to 2011, the timing could hardly be worse. The 39-year-old had come to Switzerland to collect ranking points for the ATP Finals in Turin, which run from November 15 to 22. With Jannik Sinner injured, ninth place is enough to qualify this year; Spain’s Rafael Jodar currently holds it, and Djokovic sits 11th, 319 points adrift. The Paris Masters is his last real shot.
A lot rides on it. A 19th appearance at the season finale would move the 24-time major champion past Roger Federer, and he has already lifted that trophy a record seven times. Only in 2017 did his results fall short of a place.
Basel served up a second shock the same day: top seed Ben Shelton, already sure of his Turin ticket, went down against Jerome Kym, a home wildcard ranked 222nd.
