ATP Tour

Struff stuns Djokovic in Basel

Jan-Lennard Struff earned one of the biggest victories of his career on Thursday in Basel.

The German stunned 102-time tour-level titlist Novak Djokovic 6-7(4), 7-5 7-6(5) in two hours and 36 minutes to reach the Swiss Indoors Basel quarter-finals.

"I knew needed to go for it. There was only one way to play it. So, I was very, very happy," Struff said in his on-court interview. "The last serve went in the corner like many balls today. I knew I had to play my best tennis to have a chance. Last eight times he beat me very, very easily. So, very, very happy and pleased with the performance."

The 36-year-old, who made his first Grand Slam quarter-final at Wimbledon, played aggressive tennis behind his booming serve to stay on top of Djokovic and take the racquet out of the Serbian’s hands. He hit 27 aces, including one down the T on match point.

Djokovic won his first eight Lexus ATP Head2Head meetings with Struff, and only lost one set in those encounters. But according to Infosys ATP Stats, Struff saved all six break points he faced to advance to set a quarter-final clash against Nuno Borges.

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It is a critical blow to Djokovic’s hopes of qualifying for the Nitto ATP Finals in Turin. Rafael Jodar, the ninth-placed player in the PIF ATP Live Race To Turin, lost earlier in the day, which opened the door for Djokovic to pass him with a title in Basel.

But instead, Djokovic trails the Spaniard by 319 points with just the Rolex Paris Masters remaining before the season finale for both men.

Djokovic is tied with Roger Federer for the most qualifications in Nitto ATP Finals history with 18.