Struff cruises into quarter-finals

Warsteiner defeats Frenchman Arthur Rinderknech in two sets 6-4, 7-6 (0) at the BOSS OPEN. Two-time Stuttgart winner Matteo Berrettini also defeated Denis Shapovalov in two sets.

Impressive performance by Jan-Lennard Struff in the round of last sixteen at the BOSS OPEN. The 34-year-old number 35 in the world did not show any weakness against the strong server Arthur Rinderknech and did not concede a single break chance during the entire match. In the first set, Struff capitalized on his fifth break point at 5:4 to win the set 6:4.

In the second set, the German served out in front again and was 0-40 up on his French opponent's first service game. Rinderknech was able to prevent the break and so the match went into a tiebreak, which Struff clearly dominated, not conceding a single point to his opponent.

"It was a tough match. I served and attacked well," Struff analyzed the match. "Arthur is a brutally tough opponent who serves incredibly strong." The German doesn't want to think about repeating his coup from last year, when he advanced to the final, just yet: "Now it's the quarter-finals, I don't want to look any further." However, his first tournament win in Munich a few weeks ago has given Struff a taste for more: "It was very close here last year, so it's wonderful to play in front of a full house again. The support is outstanding."

Struff will face Brandon Nakashima in the quarter-finals.  The American beat the French lucky loser Richard Gasquet 6-3, 6-4.

Berrettini also advances

Matteo Berrettini was a touch quicker. The two-time Stuttgart winner dispatched the Canadian Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-4 in just 74 minutes. In the first set, Berrettini took the Canadian's serve at 5-4 and then served out without any problems. In the second, the Roman managed to break for a 3-2 lead, after which he was untouchable on his own serve.

Berrettini will meet James Duckworth in the quarter-finals on Friday, somewhat surprisingly. The Australian defeated the No. 2 seeded American Ben Shelton 7-6 (5), 4-6, 6-3 in his BOSS OPEN debut.