Halle Open: Struff knocks out Tsitsipas to make quarter-finals

German Jan-Lennard Struff beat Greek Stefanos Tsitsipas, the No 6 seed, 6-4, 6-4 to reach the quarter-finals of the Halle Open at the Owl Arena/Gerry-Weber-Stadion on Thursday evening.

Over the course of the one hour, seven minute match, Struff did not face a single break point, with the German winning 84 percent of first serves.

“I was very happy. Yesterday was a tough match. I was sick before and today in the morning, I felt good,” explained Struff after the match. “I had good connection with the ball straight away and came in very well. I was serving pretty good, playing aggressive style. Very, very pleased with the way I played.”

Playing in front of a home crowd, Struff accredited the support he received for his performance.

“It’s very special. The crowd was supporting me like hell and it was just an amazing feeling, amazing atmosphere. It means really a lot to finally take this step.”

Struff, ranked No 41, will face Italian Jannik Sinner, the top seed, next.

The 34-year-old German edged out Italian Luciano Darderi (6-7 (2), 7-5, 7-6 (10)) in the previous round of the Halle tournament.

In the first round of the Halle tournament, Tsitsipas, ranked No 11, won against German wildcard Henri Squire (7-6 (7), 7-6 (2)).

Halle ATP 500, other second-round results (Owl Arena/Gerry-Weber-Stadion, grass, EUR 2.255.655, most recent results first):

• Marcos Giron beat Matteo Berrettini: 3-6, 6-4, 6-3
• Jannik Sinner beat Fabian Marozsan: 6-4, 6-7 (4), 6-3
• Hubert Hurkacz (5) beat James Duckworth (Q): 7-6 (3), 6-4
• Alexander Zverev (2) beat Lorenzo Sonego: 6-4, 7-6 (5)
• Zhizhen Zhang beat Daniil Medvedev (3): 6-3, 2-6, 7-6 (5)
• Christopher Eubanks beat Alexander Bublik (7): 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3
• Arthur Fils beat Dominik Koepfer (WC): 6-3, 6-4