Struff reaches first Grand Slam quarterfinal after Hurkacz retirement in dramatic Wimbledon five-set match

Struff reaches a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time after a huge comeback and Hurkacz’s retirement

Jan-Lennard Struff achieved the greatest result of his career at Wimbledon 2026, where in the fourth round of the men’s singles he defeated Hubert Hurkacz after a huge comeback. According to the official Wimbledon score, the German tennis player won 3:6, 6:7(5), 7:6(2), 7:5, 4:2 after Hurkacz retired from the match in the fifth set. The encounter was played on 5 July 2026 at the All England Club in London, in the later part of the programme on No.2 Court. The tournament’s official order of play listed the match as a fourth-round duel, after the start of the programme on that court at 11:00 BST, following the opening men’s doubles match and a women’s encounter that was scheduled not before 12:30. Struff thus reached the last eight at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career.

The result is particularly significant because of the way it was achieved. Hurkacz won the first two sets and for a long time looked like the player who controlled the key moments, especially thanks to his serve and calmer performance in the closing stages. Struff, however, survived the third set, played a convincing tie-break and then gradually changed the direction of the match. He won the fourth set 7:5, and in the fifth he led 4:2 before the Polish tennis player, according to the tournament’s official record, was forced to retire. The German agency dpa, in a report published by WELT, states that Hurkacz had visible back problems during the match and requested medical assistance.

The comeback that changed Struff’s Grand Slam story

Struff’s entry into the quarterfinal carries weight that goes beyond one dramatic match. Wimbledon’s official profile before this edition of the tournament stated that his best result in the singles competition on the grass of the All England Club had been the third round, which he reached in 2018, 2019, 2024 and 2025. He arrived in London in 2026 as the 74th player on the ATP singles ranking according to Wimbledon’s tournament profile, with the experience of a long-time Tour member, but without a quarterfinal on the biggest stage. For that reason, the victory against Hurkacz marked a breakthrough that had long eluded the 36-year-old player in his career.

The path to that result was not simple even before the fourth round. According to the official Wimbledon draw, Struff knocked out Daniil Medvedev, the eighth seed, in the third round in three extremely tight sets: 7:6(4), 7:6(5), 7:5. That result had already suggested that on grass he could impose a style based on a powerful first shot, directness and the ability to take the initiative in short exchanges. Against Hurkacz, however, he had to show a different kind of resilience: not only to win important points on his own serve, but also to stay in the match after losing two consecutive set endings. It was precisely that psychological turn that was crucial in a duel that lasted long enough for physical condition to become as important as tactics.

The third set was the first clear change of rhythm. Hurkacz still had support in his serve, but Struff played the cleanest segment of the match in the tie-break and won it 7:2. With that, he not only reduced the deficit, but also for the first time shifted the pressure onto an opponent who until then had been closer to victory. The fourth set then brought an increasingly pronounced battle for every service game, and Struff reached the closing stage better prepared. When the set ended 7:5, the match grew from a duel that was heading toward an expected Hurkacz victory into a physical and mental test in which the Polish tennis player found it increasingly difficult to keep up with the intensity.

Hurkacz lost his advantage after movement problems

Hurkacz’s defeat was painful because in the first part of the match he showed why he is often considered a particularly dangerous opponent on grass. Wimbledon’s official profile states that the Pole is 6 feet and 5 inches tall, plays right-handed and has won eight ATP singles titles in his career. His game traditionally relies on a powerful serve, a quick first ball after the serve and the ability to turn short points into pressure on the opponent. In the first two sets against Struff, precisely that pattern was enough for a 6:3, 7:6(5) lead. Still, as soon as the match entered the third and fourth sets, physical limitations became increasingly visible.

According to the DPA report carried by WELT, Hurkacz had been having back problems from the third set onward, which made it increasingly difficult for him to move and led him to request treatment several times. Such circumstances are especially demanding on grass, where the low trajectory of the ball and fast transitions toward the net require explosive first steps. In the continuation, Struff increasingly forced his opponent to play an extra shot, and the length of the match began to work in favour of the player who looked physically more stable. The retirement at 4:2 in the fifth set did not diminish the fact that Hurkacz had previously been close to victory, but it confirmed that the finish could no longer be played at full competitive intensity.

For Hurkacz, Wimbledon remains a tournament with special meaning. The tournament’s official profile states that his best result at the All England Club is the semifinal in 2021, which remains his deepest run at Grand Slam level. In an earlier review, the ATP Tour highlighted that Hurkacz defeated Roger Federer in the Wimbledon quarterfinal that year, in the final singles match of Federer’s professional career. In the same season, the Pole won the Miami Open, and the ATP then announced that he had become the first Polish tennis player with a title at a Masters 1000 series tournament. Because of that background, his London defeat in 2026 is not only a break in a run of results, but also a missed opportunity to return among the final actors of a tournament at which he has already proved that he can play the biggest matches.

The greatest result of a player who waited a long time for a major breakthrough

Struff’s career has often been marked by late breakthroughs and results that came after a long period of attempts. The ATP Tour reported in 2024 that he won his first ATP title in Munich by defeating Taylor Fritz 7:5, 6:3, after he was already in the fourth decade of his life and after several lost finals. That title was not a Grand Slam success, but it showed a pattern that repeated itself at Wimbledon: Struff is a player who gains the most benefit when he can combine aggression, patience and readiness to accept long matches without tactical retreat. The victory against Hurkacz further emphasized that characteristic because it came after a deficit that would have led many players toward a quick end.

According to Wimbledon’s official profile, Struff had one singles title, a best singles ranking of No. 21 and more than two hundred victories at professional level before the 2026 tournament. Such data speak of a stable, long career, but also of the difference between a constant presence on the Tour and a breakthrough into the very final stages of a Grand Slam tournament. The Wimbledon quarterfinal therefore changes the way his London performance is viewed. Before this tournament, his best Wimbledon editions had stopped before the second week in the broadest sense of the title race; now he has entered the group of players who have a real match for the semifinal.

DPA, in the report published in WELT, also states that Struff became the oldest player in the Open Era to reach a Grand Slam quarterfinal for the first time. The Open Era, according to a historical review by the ATP Tour and an explanation by the International Tennis Hall of Fame, refers to the period of open professional tennis that began in 1968. Such information gives an additional dimension to the result because it shows how rare it is for a player at the age of 36 to make a first breakthrough among the last eight at one of the four biggest tournaments. In modern tennis, where physical demands and the density of the schedule often shorten the space for late career turnarounds, Struff’s result belongs in the category of exceptional examples of longevity.

The quarterfinal against Sinner brings an even greater challenge

The official Wimbledon draw after the conclusion of the programme on 5 July shows that Struff will face Jannik Sinner, the top seed and defending champion, in the quarterfinal. Sinner, according to the official daily schedule and results, defeated Shintaro Mochizuki 6:3, 7:6(0), 6:3 on Centre Court that same day. That outcome closed the upper part of the draw and set up a duel between players who arrive in the quarterfinal from completely different starting points. Sinner arrived in London as one of the main favourites and a player expected to reach the final stages, while Struff reached the quarterfinal through a series of matches that broke down his previous limitations at Grand Slam tournaments.

Tactically speaking, Struff will have to find a balance between aggression and risk control against Sinner. Against Hurkacz, it helped him that the match over time opened space for a comeback, especially after his opponent physically declined. Against the top seed, there are unlikely to be many such gifts, so the opening service games and the ability to avoid long periods of defence will be decisive. Sinner’s victory against Mochizuki in three sets, according to the official score, suggests that he entered the quarterfinal without additional exhaustion. Struff, on the other hand, arrives after a dramatic five-set match, but also with the emotional momentum of the greatest victory of his career.

For Wimbledon, this story is also important because it recalls the breadth of the men’s tournament beyond the main favourites. Day 7, according to the official schedule, brought victories for Novak Djokovic, Felix Auger-Aliassime and Jannik Sinner, but Struff’s passage had a different weight because it was not a continuation of an already familiar Grand Slam routine. It was the result of a player who for years had been an unpleasant opponent, but not a regular participant in the closing stages of the biggest tournaments. In that sense, his entry into the quarterfinal is not only a sporting note but also a story about a late reaching of a level that had long seemed out of reach. Wimbledon continues until 12 July, and the tournament’s official schedule now leads Struff into a match in which he will try to extend the most successful Grand Slam appearance of his career against the top seed.

Sources:
- The Championships, Wimbledon – official daily order of play and results for 5 July 2026, including the Struff - Hurkacz match on No.2 Court (link)
- The Championships, Wimbledon – official draw of the 2026 men’s singles tournament with results by rounds (link)
- The Championships, Wimbledon – official profile of Jan-Lennard Struff with biographical and tournament data (link)
- The Championships, Wimbledon – official profile of Hubert Hurkacz with biographical and tournament data (link)
- ATP Tour – report on Struff’s first ATP title in Munich in 2024 (link)
- ATP Tour – review of Hurkacz’s Wimbledon 2021 and victory against Roger Federer (link)
- ATP Tour – report on Hurkacz’s title at the 2021 Miami Open and first Polish Masters 1000 trophy (link)
- ATP Tour – historical review of the beginning of the Open Era and Wimbledon 1968 (link)
- International Tennis Hall of Fame – explanation of the Open Era within the history of tennis (link)
- WELT / dpa – report on Struff’s entry into the quarterfinal, Hurkacz’s health problems and the context of the Open Era record (link)