Jan-Lennard Struff will play the 2020 Hamburg European Open. The 30-year-old German, who has just reached a new career-high at World No. 29, will be awarded a wild card into the main draw of the ATP 500 event, if he misses the cut.

“I am really happy that the Rothenbaum tournament is still taking place this year, and I am pleased that I will be part of this great field of players,” Struff said on Monday. The Hamburg European Open will take place from September 19 to 27, one week ahead of the French Open at Roland-Garros, awaiting a strong line-up. Struff, Germany’s No. 2 male player, is currently sitting in third place on the alternate list.

“I always enjoy competing in the Hamburg European Open. On the one hand, it is because I can play here in front of my home crowd. On the other hand, I am always particularly happy, as Hamburg is a beautiful city,” said Struff, who keeps the tournament in good memory.

“The Center Court is simply brilliant! And the tournament is one of my first experiences on the professional tour. I played here my first clay-court match on the ATP Tour.”

Struff advanced to the stage of the final 16 in Hamburg twice, back in 2017 and 2019. The German Davis Cup player will next compete in the US Open being the 28^th seed of the Grand Slam tournament in New York. He will face Spaniard Pedro Martinez in his opening match on Monday.

“Struffi is a great guy, who has become a crowd favourite in recent years,” tournament director Sandra Reichel said. “Always down-to-earth, Jan-Lennard is an absolute popular figure, and he plays cracking tennis, fighting for every point, which has made him to one of the world’s best players. On good days he can be dangerous to anyone.”

The 1.93-meter-tall athlete from Warstein has advanced to his first ATP-Masters 1000 quarter-final at the Western & Southern Open in New York last week. En-route to the final eight, he beat NexGen stars Alex de Minaur of Australia and Canada’s Denis Shapovolav, as well as Belgian top ten player David Goffin. Struff eventually fell to World No. 1 Novak Djokovic, who remains undefeated in 2020.

The Hamburg European Open is the only professional tournament to be held in Germany at ATP and WTA level this year. The entry list for the 114^th edition of the prestigious Rothenbaum tournament is led by World No. 5 Daniil Medvedev of Russia. The 24-year-old Moscow native will be joined by fellow top 10 players Stefanos Tsitsipas of Greece, Italy’s Matteo Berrettini, Frenchman Gael Monfils and David Goffin of Belgium.