China Open 2023: Casper Ruud vs Jan-Lennard Struff preview, head-to-head, prediction, odds and pick

Match Details

Fixture: (7) Casper Ruud vs. Jan-Lennard Struff

Tournament: China Open 2023

Round: First round (Round of 32)

Venue: National Tennis Center, Beijing, China

Category: ATP 500

Surface: Hard

Prize money: $3,633,875

Live telecast: USA - Tennis Channel | UK - Amazon Prime | Canada - TSN

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Casper Ruud vs Jan-Lennard Struff preview

Casper Ruud in action at the Laver Cup

Seventh seed Casper Ruud will face Jan-Lennard Struff in the first round of the China Open on Friday, September 29.

Barring his run to the final of the French Open, Ruud has endured a pretty disappointing season so far. The Norwegian's last tournament was the US Open which he entered after a second-round exit at the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati.

Ruud was seeded fifth at the New York Major and booked his place in the second round after beating Emilio Nava 7-6(5), 3-6, 6-4, 7-6(5). He then faced Zhizhen Zhang and won just one out of the first three sets. The Norwegian won the fourth set 6-0 but the Chinese ace took the final set to register a 6-4, 5-7, 6-2, 0-6, 6-2 win and reach the third round.

Meanwhile, Jan-Lennard Struff's most notable performance so far this season is reaching the final of the Madrid Open. He missed a lot of action after the Halle Open due to injury and made his return at the Zhuhai Championships.

Struff was seeded third at the ATP 250 tournament, thus receiving a walkover to the second round. Here, he faced Cristian Garin and beat him 6-3, 1-6, 6-4 to book his place in the quarterfinals.

Struff faced eighth seed Yoshihito Nishioka in the last eight and was beaten 6-4, 7-5, getting eliminated from the Zhuhai Championships.

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Casper Ruud vs Jan-Lennard Struff head-to-head

Struff leads 3-0 in the head-to-head between the two players. Their last meeting came in the third round of this season's Monte-Carlo Masters, with the German beating Ruud 6-1, 7-6(6).

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Casper Ruud vs Jan-Lennard Struff odds

Player	Moneyline	Handicap Bets	Total Games (Over and Under)
Casper Ruud	-185	-1.5 (+130)	Over 22.5 (-125)
Jan-Lennard Struff	+140	+1.5 (-185)	Under 22.5 (-110)

All odds are sourced from BETMGM.

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Casper Ruud vs Jan-Lennard Struff prediction

Struff's superior head-to-head record against Ruud gives him the edge entering the match. However, the Norwegian is capable of being an extremely dangerous opponent when he is at his best. We can expect him to rediscover his form during the Asian swing.

While Ruud plays his best tennis on clay courts, he has also produced several good performances on hard courts as well. The Norwegian is a fine defensive player who can counterpunch very well but he has added an attacking element to his game as well since 2022.

Ruud has a pretty solid forehand and will look to make the most out of it, along with his stamina and on-court movement. He also has a pretty effective serve that can fetch him a lot of free points through aces.

Struff, meanwhile, has a very powerful serve and will look to make the most out of it. The German loves to attack and dictate points from the baseline, and he will have to be very aggressive from the first point in order to come out on top.

While Struff has done very well against Ruud every time he has faced him, there's a first time for everything. The Norwegian should be able to break the shackles and get his first win over the lanky German.

Pick: Ruud to win in three sets.