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"I couldn't even tie my shoes": Struff details shocking extent of injury that halted "great season"
Tennis NewsThursday, 28 September 2023 at 13:05
Jan-Lennard Struff has detailed the shocking extent of a hip injury that he sustained earlier this year which forced him to miss several months of the 2023 season.
The World No. 22 was having a fantastic season before he sustained the injury at the Challenger tournament in Bordeaux. Prior to this, he reached the final of the Madrid Open after entering the draw as a lucky loser. Once there, he was able to take a set off World No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz before ultimately finishing as runner-up in his maiden ATP Masters 1000 final.
However, after losing to Tomas Martin Etcheverry in the semi-finals of the Bordeaux Challenger, the German player began having problems with his hip.
Struff explains extent of injury
"I thought: Mmmm, this is a strange feeling. But I finished the match without problems. Then, in the afternoon, I felt a problem. When I woke up, I couldn't not even tying my shoes. It was really hard," he recalled in a recent interview.
Nevertheless, Struff continued to play at tournaments, entering the French Open where he lost to Jiri Lehecka in the first round. He then went on to compete at the Stuttgart Open where his injury continued to bother him to the point that doctors told him to withdraw from Wimbledon.
"During the week I felt more pain when playing doubles. I spoke to the doctors about possible injections for Wimbledon, but they said: You have no chance. You would make the situation worse," he said.
The 33-year-old expressed his regret over having to halt what had been a very successful season up until his injury.
"Obviously I was having a great season up to that point.
I didn't expect to experience all this and go from the top 150 to the top 30. So it was hard to accept what was happening to me. It was sad to cancel myself first from Wimbledon and then from the US Open: I would have played as the top seed in both tournaments.
It was frustrating," he admitted.
However, he has since returned to the ATP tour for the Asian Swing and he competed at the Zhuhai Championships last week as the third seed. He is now preparing to take on World No. 9 Casper Ruud in the first round of the China Open in Beijing.
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