"He is 20-0 on Spanish clay courts": Struff knows difficulty of Alcaraz Madrid Open final but relishing test

Jan-Lennard Struff is excited about facing Carlos Alcaraz in the Madrid Open final despite being fully aware that he's yet to lose on a Spanish clay court being 20-0 so far.

Jan-Lennard Struff never expected to be in the final of this event after losing in the qualifiers. He faced Aslan Karatsev and lost in two sets easily but entered the draw as a lucky loser. He played a fantastic event to make his way to the final beating Karatsev in the semi-final to set up the clash with Alcaraz.

He's the first lucky loser to ever make a final of an ATP 1000 event and he'll try to do what his compatriot Zverev failed to do last year. For the second year in a row, Alcaraz is facing a tall big-serving German in the final and he'll hope to make it as smooth as it was last year. Struff understands the difficulty:

“We played an amazing match at Wimbledon last year and I was very close to beating him but he pulled off unbelievable shots in the tie-break. This is going to be different. This is in Spain, in Madrid. I think he is 20-0 on Spanish clay courts, so it is going to be very tough. I have to go for it otherwise I will have no chance. I will try my best to beat him and win my first title.”

Reflecting on his Madrid run, Struff said:

“(I) was very happy that I got chosen for lucky loser, that I had been drawn two out of three. This is just a crazy story, I would say. I couldn’t have imagined this. It’s an incredible journey and story, here in Madrid, and very, very happy. You should not give up and try again always.”