Jan-Lennard Struff has received the Comeback Player of the Year award, after recovering from injury and jumping from No. 167 in the Pepperstone ATP Rankings to a career-high No. 21.
Struff was nominated for Comeback Player of the Year along with three other players who have recovered from injury to once again strengthen their position on the circuit: Dominik Koepfer, Gael Monfils and Alexander Zverev.
“I am very, very happy and excited to win the Comeback of the Year 2023 award. I was nominated with Sascha, Domi and Gael, who for me also deserve the award for their seasons, so congratulations on that,” said Struff.
The German started the season outside the Top 150, but made great progress following his results at the ATP Masters 1000. He reached the quarter-finals in Monte Carlo, before becoming the first lucky loser in history to reach a final of a ATP Masters 1000 in Madrid.
In June he appeared in the title match in Stuttgart, before a hip injury forced the 33-year-old to miss three months of the season, which kept Struff for seven weeks without touching a racquet.
He won again on his return in Zhuhai in September, defeating Cristian Garín in three sets in his first match since then, shortly before reaching his third semi-final of the season in Sofia in November. He finished the year as No. 25.
“I didn’t expect to reach the Top 30 so quickly since having been outside the Top 150,” he acknowledged. “It’s been crazy how fast it’s gone.”
The nominees were determined by votes from ITWA, the international tennis journalists’ association, and the winner from that short list is chosen by the players.
Source: https://www.atptour.com/es/news/struff-atp-awards-2023-comeback-player-of-the-year
