By Richard Pagliaro | Thursday, October 29, 2026
Photo credit: Screen Shot
A litany of losses weighed on Jan-Lennard Struff facing nightmare nemesis Novak Djokovic for the ninth time.
Winless in eight career meetings vs the Grand Slam king, Struff unleashed a stirring red-line response today.
Pausing before serving, Struff slashed his 27th ace sealing a stunning 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-6(5) upset of Djokovic to advance to the Swiss Indoors Basel quarterfinals.
Former world No. 1 Djokovic had dominated Struff sweeping 20 of the 21 sets they’d played prior to today.
None of that mattered much to Struff, who smacked 66 winners—23 more than the Serbian superstar—pumped 27 aces and saved all six break points he faced in a two hour, 35-minute triumph.
Mixing in some serve-and-volley with straight up sledgehammer forehands, Struff put pressure on Djokovic at times winning 29 of 38 trips to net, including carving out some slick low volleys.
The 36-year-old German reached his third quarterfinal of the season, following final eight runs at Wimbledon and Brussels.
Meanwhile, Djokovic’s quest to qualify for the season-ending ATP Finals took a hit. Djokovic currently occupies 10th place in the ATP Race to Turin. The top eight men in the Race will contest the season-ending ATP Finals. Reigning champion Jannik Sinner has withdrawn to recovery from a right knee injury.
While Djokovic will move on to Paris to play the Rolex Paris Masters, Struff advances to the Basel quarterfinals against Nuno Borges. Djokovic’s ouster means there will be a first-time Basel champion crowned on Sunday as the Serbian started the day as the lone former champion still standing.
Playing Basel for the first time since 2011, Djokovic exploited a netted forehand from the German and followed with a forehand strike crosscourt earning three set points. On his second set point, Djokovic drew another netted forehand to snatch a one-set lead.
As second-set tension tightened, both men turned up the heat on serve. Struff slammed an ace wide sealing a love hold for 5-4. Djokovic snapped off a slider ace holding to level at 5-All.
By then, Struff was selectively serving-and-volleying in an effort to short rallies. Djokovic spun a diagonal pass earning a break point in the 11th game. Struff saved it with a forehand strike down the line and went on to hold for 6-5 waving his arms exhorting Basel fans to make more noise.
Perhaps ruing the lost opportunity, Djokovic completely lost the range on serve.
The Olympic gold-medal champion spit up three double faults to face two set points. An assertive Struff attacked and Djokovic flicked an off-balance lob long as the German scored the first break to force a final set.
The decider was level at 4-all when Struff rushed a backhand wide to face a break point.
Showing guts on a second serve-and-volley, Struff knocked off a forehand volley to erase break point, eventually holding with a smash for 5-4. The explosive German threw down his second love hold of the set for 6-5.
Djokovic drilled back to back aces to force the final tie break.
The tie break turned on Struff’s sharp transition game as he ran down a lob, flicked back a forehand then fired a forehand down the line for a mini break and 4-2 lead. Djokovic followed with a couple of errors as Struff earned three match points.
The 24-time Grand Slam champion saved the first two to shift pressure back on Struff’s shoulders.
Pausing before serving, Struff zapped a final ace down the middle wrapping his first win, at last, over the former No. 1.
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