Tiafoe successfully ends Germany debut with BOSS OPEN title

The winner of the BOSS OPEN 2023 is Frances Tiafoe. The American defeated local hero Jan-Lennard Struff 4-6, 7-6 (1), 7-6 (8) in the final of his first ever tournament in Germany.

Tiafoe started the final strong, not allowing Struff a single point in his first three service games. At 3-3, the German took advantage of his first opportunity and broke his opponent's serve for a 4-3 lead. The player from Warstein didn't let anything go to waste and served out safely.

In the second set, the match went back and forth for a long time. At 5-5 Struff had to survive the first tricky situation but managed to save three break points. The set went into a tiebreak, in which Tiafoe played some magic balls and took the decider 7-1.

The third set was also even, both players did not show any weakness in their service games. The logical consequence was another tiebreak, and it was a tough one. In the end, Tiafoe secured the tiebreak with his third match point, 10-8, after having had to fend off a match point from Struff.

Afterwards, the American dropped happily onto the BOSS OPEN lawn: "It's my third title, my first on grass. I still can't believe I won. I had to save a match point and now I'm in the Top 10. These are incredible emotions for someone like me and where I come from."

Struff was naturally less happy after the match, although he was "very proud" of his performance. "For the spectators, it was an unbelievable match that had everything you could wish for, except that maybe I would win." The Warsteiner finally described his emotional state as follows: "I can't reproach myself much. I left my heart on the court, unfortunately it was broken in the end."

Thanks to his third tournament win in total, Tiafoe has moved into the world's top 10 for the first time in his career and will be ranked 10th from Monday. Struff also lost his second final at ATP level in 2023 after Madrid.