Hamburg Open 2022: Karen Khachanov vs. Jan-Lennard Struff Tennis Pick and Prediction

TennisSection previews the 2022 Hamburg Open as Jan-Lennard Struff takes on Karen Khachanov in the first round on Monday, July 18th, 2022.

A big-hitting contest is in store at the Hamburg Open as two of the most powerful players go toe-to-toe. Will it be Jan-Lennard Struff who comes out on top on home soil, or will Karen Khachanov rediscover his winning touch?

Jan-Lennard Struff capped off a very stellar week in Braunschweig with his first ATP Challenger title in six years. Struff’s decision to return to the ATP’s second tier was largely impacted by his poor start to the season in which he went 2-13 in the first six months. That appalling run of results was heavily affected a foot injury which plagued him right after the Miami Masters, forcing him to miss the summer European clay swing at the start of April. But at Wimbledon, he appeared to be back to his free-flowing best as he came mighty close to inflict defeat to Carlos Alcaraz. That match worked wonders for his confidence as just a few weeks later, he put together a five-match winning streak en route to the title.

Karen Khachanov, for his part, will play for the first time since his shock quarterfinal defeat to Oscar Otte in Halle. Wimbledon’s ban towards Russian players meant that he missed out from competition at the All England Club. Instead, he will focus to get back to winning ways at the Hamburg Open in his third visit to the tournament.

Karen Khachanov leads Jan-Lennard Struff 2-1 in their head-to-head. Ironically, the also met at the Hamburg Open in the first round last season, with Khachanov winning in three sets. Struffenters this year’s event courtesy of a wild card following his title run at the Braunschweig Challenger. If he continues to serve lights out and hit the ball accurately and aggressively, I cannot see how an out-of-sorts Khachanov can unsettle him.