Struff stuffs holder Rune in Munich

Jan-Lennard Struff handed two-time winner Holger Rune a brutal 6-2, 6-0 beatdown to reach the final of the ATP Munich event on Saturday.

The 45-minute thumping marked the end for the tournament titlewinner at the last two editions.

The German will play for the title on Sunday against American Taylor Fritz, who defeated Chile’s Cristian Garin 6-3, 6-4.

Struff did double duty in wintery Munich, finishing off Canadian Felix Auger-Aliassime in a quarter-final interrupted on Friday by weather 7-5, 6-4.

The 33-year-old Struff, ranked 28th in the world, has produced some of his best form on home courts and will be playing his third tournament final in Germany (2021 Munich, 2023 Stuttgart). 

He is the sixth local to reach multiple finals at the event in the Bavarian capital, with others including Tommy Haas, Philip Kohlschreiber, Michael Stich, and Alexander Zverev.

Fritz has had little luck on clay, losing all six of his previous semis on the European surface.

“It is really cool, I’ve have been really close to a clay-court final a couple of times. It would be awesome to get a title on a clay court.”