Struff eases to quarterfinals, once again Hungarian upset for Bautista-Agut

Jan-Lennard Struff eased to the Sofia Open 2023 quarterfinals for the second year in a row. The 28-year-old German ended the dream ATP-tour level debut of Britain’s Billy Harris, defeating him 7:6(5), 6:4.

The third seed played in the Final 8 in Sofia in 2022 after playing in the two qualification rounds but lost to Lorenzo Musetti, who is top-seeded in Sofia this year.

Struff’s next opponent will be the Hungarian Fabian Marozsan. Currently ranked #62 in the world, Budapest-born player became the second Hungarian in a row who stopped the first Sofia Open champion – Roberto Bautista-Agut. The Spaniard didn’t give up and fought for every ball even though he was tired after the 3+-hours epic he had to play yesterday in the first round against Miomir Kecmanovic. Marozsan and Bautista-Agut played three sets and stood on the court for 2:18 hours. The Hungarian played solid in the tiebreak in the third set and led 5-0, just to close the match 6:3, 3:6, 7:6 (4).

The quarterfinal against Struff will be the second in Marozsan’s career so far. He reached the Top 8 at ATP Masters 1000 in Shanghai, defeating Alex de Minaur, Dusan Lajovic and Casper Ruud in a row. His march was stopped by Hubert Hurkacz.

“I started really well in the first set. But unfortunately, everything changed. He started playing better. It is tennis. It was an awkward third set. Agut played better, but I managed to be stable. I am happy that I won. He is a good player, very strong psychically. It is not easy to close a match. I was nervous. But I stood solid in the tie-break. Tried to play more aggressively.

Now it comes Struff. I played him in Bratislava, and I won. I will do my best to do it again”, Marozsan said.

 


The tournament is held with the support of Inbet, Nova Broadcasting Group, А1, Diema Extra, Electrohold, Sofiamed, First Investment Bank, Europa Bullion, the Ministry of Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Tourism.