BERGAMO/STARNBERG, November 4, 2022
Jan-Lennard Struff has reached the semi-finals of the Trofeo Perrel – Faip ATP Challenger Tour hard-court tournament in Bergamo. The World No. 168 from Germany rallied past Matteo Arnaldi of Italy 4-6, 6-1, 6-4 on Friday afternoon.
Struff, who is bidding for his second Challenger title of the season following his triumph on home soil at the Brawo Open in Braunschweig in July, struck 11 aces and won 87 per cent of his first-service points to seal victory in one hour and 39 minutes.
“It’s great to see how many excellent young tennis players you have in Italy,” said Struff. “He played a very good first set, for me it was important to stay in the match after losing it and reduce the errors. In the first set I maybe made too many mistakes, then I fought hard, keeping a lot of balls in the court. But I liked him: he is young and talented, the difference was minimal.”
The 32-year-old Warstein native will next take on Jurij Rodionov from Austria, who outlasted Germany’s Yannick Hanfmann 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in two hours and 27 minutes.
Comeback complete 👊
🇦🇹 Jurij Rodionov advances to his 5th #ATPChallenger semifinal of the year after beating Hanfmann 4-6, 6-4, 6-4 in Bergamo!
📸: Antonio Milesi pic.twitter.com/FIWesati75
— ATP Challenger Tour (@ATPChallenger) November 4, 2022
In the bottom half of the draw, Finnish qualifier Otto Virtanen continued his great run of form this week in Bergamo knocking out Swiss youngster Dominic Stricker 6-4, 7-6(5). The World No. 265 converted two of his 12 break-point opportunities to advance in one hour and 34 minutes.
Up next for Virtanen will be second-seeded Portuguese Nuno Borges, a 6-4, 6-4 winner over Italian qualifier Andrea Vavassori in one hour and 11 minutes.
