Germany’s Jan-Lennard Struff will take on Tommy Paul in the first round of the Australian Open

Struff is a relatively unknown name in the ATP circuit but the German has had a pretty commendable run so far in Australia. He has won all three rounds of qualifying matches to set up a main draw clash against Paul. The 32-year-old is currently ranked World No.167 in the ATP singles.

During the qualifiers, Struff didn’t drop a single set. He defeated Alexander Shevchenko in the first round before pulling off an upset against Emilio Gomez in the second round. In the third round, Struff defeated Tristan Schoolkate 6-1, 6-4 to make it through to the main rounds.

Tommy Paul’s form coming into the match

Tommy Paul is coming into the tournament on the back of an impressive string of results. The American ended 2022 on a great note, making it to the quarter-finals of the Paris Masters. During his commendable run in the tournament, Paul defeated number 2 seed Rafael Nadal and other top stars like Roberto Bautista Agut and Pablo Carreno Busta.

Paul has played only one warm-up event leading to the Australian Open. He participated in the Adelaide International II but was eliminated pretty early, in the Round of 16. Paul won his first-round match against Christopher O’Connell but the no.8 seed lost to Jack Draper in the next round to bow out from the tournament.

Details:

Date – Tuesday, 17th January

Court Type – Outdoor Hard Court

Telecast – Sony Sports Network

Start Time – 08:00 am IST

Venue – Court 5

Match details – First Round

Head to head and Predictions

Struff and Paul have played each other twice before on the ATP tour. Paul emerged victorious on both occasions and leads the overall head-to-head 2-0. Paul is the clear favourite going into this match both in terms of experience and rankings. It will be an uphill task for Struff in this encounter but he will pose a tough challenge. We are predicting a win in straight sets for Tommy Paul.

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