Through eight matches, Jan-Lennard Struff had not found a way past Novak Djokovic. The ninth came at the worst possible time for the Serbian’s hopes of reaching the Nitto ATP Finals. The 36-year-old German beat No. 4 Djokovic 6-7 (4), 7-5, 7-6 (5) on Thursday night to reach the quarter-finals in Basel, Switzerland, finishing the match with an ace.
A run to Turin after Thursday’s matches
| # | Player: | Pts | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1: | Alexander Zverev Qualified · Vienna QF |
9240 | |
| 2: | Jannik Sinner: Out for the season |
7950 | |
| 3: | Carlos Alcaraz Qualified · Vienna QF |
4700 | |
| 4: | Ben Shelton Qualified · Basel 2R |
4520 | |
| 5:00 | Daniil Medvedev ▲1: Vienna QF: |
3710 | |
| 6:00 | Flavio Cobolli ▼1: Outside of Vienna |
3680 | |
| 7:00 | Arthur son Basel QF |
3525 | |
| 8 o’clock | Francis Tiafoe Outside of Vienna |
3,380 | |
| 9:00 | Rafael Jodar Outside of Basel |
3184: | |
| Last place: 9th, 3184 | |||
| 10:00 | Alex de Minaur Vienna QF: |
2930: | |
| 11:00 | Novak Djokovic Outside of Basel |
2890 | |
| 12:00 | Taylor Fritz Basel QF |
2785 | |
| 13:00 | Tommy Paul Vienna QF: |
2725 | |
PIF ATP Direct race to Turin, points from January 1, after Thursday’s second-round matches in Vienna and Basel (Shelton match still to be played). Zverev, Alcaraz and Shelton qualified. Sinner is out for the season, so ninth place is last place.
Djokovic came to Basel knowing he would likely need the final to stay in contention for Turin. He leaves after the second round, with 2890 points left in the Live Race and out of the qualifying spots. He’ll still be back in the Top 10 on Monday thanks to his opening win.
The match was decided by one break and two tiebreaks. Djokovic took the tiebreak in the first set 7-4. Struff then led 6-5 in the second set before the German broke the only serve of the match to force a decider. The third set also went to a tie-break, which Struff won 7-5.
Djokovic, ranked 12th, has won all eight of their meetings, including a 6-3, 6-3, 6-2 victory in the fourth round of the 2025 US Open. The loss also ends his 6-0 run at the ATP 500 level this season, which included the Beijing title. He was bidding to become the oldest quarter-finalist in Basel history, ahead of Jimmy Connors, who reached the stage in 1991 at the age of 39.
Playing in Basel for the first time since 2011, the 2009 champion opened his week with a comeback to beat France’s Hugo Humbert 4-6, 6-3, 6-4. Struff, who entered as a special disqualifier after reaching the final in Brussels last week, beat qualifier Yannick Hanfmann 6-4, 6-3 in the first round.
The German reaches his 42nd Tour quarter-final, third this season after Wimbledon and Brussels, and second since Basel 2019. This is also his fourth Top 20 win in 2026. He will face Portugal’s Nuno Borges for a place in the semi-finals.
