Germany's Jan-Lennard Struff looked down and out when he lost in the final round of the qualifying for the Mutua Madrid Open last week. However, after getting another chance as a lucky loser, the German appears to be making the most of the opportunity as he stormed into his first ATP Masters 1000 semifinal.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The lucky loser upset fourth seed Stefanos Tsitsipas 7-6(5), 5-7, 6-3 on Thursday night to reach the last four stage at the Caja Magica. The German will next face Aslan Karatsev, who ousted him in qualifying.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Struff is the third lucky loser to advance to the semifinals of a Masters 1000 event, joining Thomas Johansson (2004 Toronto) and Lucas Pouille (2016 Rome). He has now split six ATP head-to-head matches with Tsitsipas and is two victories from hoisting his first ATP Tour trophy.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
It is the high point of a strong comeback for the 33-year-old. Earlier this year, Struff was as low as No. 167 in the ATP Rankings after suffering a right foot injury last season in Miami.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Struff won the first set in a tiebreaker but lost the next one, taking the match into the decider.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Tsitsipas entered the match with an 8-1 record in deciding sets this season and 9-2 on clay in his career, so it was no surprise that he continued to put pressure on the German, who was pursuing the biggest win of his career.<\/p>\r\n\r\n