Jan-Lennard Struff beat Novak Djokovic 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-6(5) in Basel with 27 aces, while Valentin Vacherot ousted Rafael Jodar and wild card Jerome Kym stunned top seed Ben Shelton. Arthur Fils, Taylor Fritz and Jiri Lehecka also advanced at the Swiss Indoors.
Basel, Switzerland: The tie-break that decided it went to a man who had lost his previous eight meetings with Djokovic. Struff, 36 and ranked 47th, served for the win, converted his third match point with an ace down the middle and finally beat the 39-year-old Serb at the ninth attempt, in two hours and 36 minutes.
Struff’s serve decides a heavyweight clash
Djokovic won the opening tie-break, but Struff levelled by taking the second set 7-5 and then dominated on serve. He struck 27 aces and saved all six break points he faced. Djokovic held on through a second match point with an ace of his own, only for the German to find one more on the third.
The result stings beyond one early exit. Djokovic won his 102nd tour title in Beijing this month and sits one behind Roger Federer’s 103 in the all-time list, with only Jimmy Connors ahead of both. In the Race to Turin, he now trails Jodar by 319 points with only the Paris Masters left before the Nitto ATP Finals, making qualification for Turin a steep climb. Struff next plays Nuno Borges in the quarter-finals. Djokovic had needed three sets to beat Ugo Humbert in his opener on Wednesday.
Jodar falls in a deciding tie-break
Third seed Jodar lost to Vacherot 7-6(4), 2-6, 7-6(5) in two hours and 30 minutes. The Spaniard is ninth in the Live Race with 3,209 points, effectively holding the last Turin place, and the defeat leaves him exposed to pressure from Alex de Minaur, who plays in the Vienna quarter-finals. Vacherot, ranked 31st, moves into the last eight.
Kym topples Shelton
The loudest noise of the night came late. Swiss wild card Jerome Kym, ranked 222nd, beat top seed Ben Shelton 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(1). Shelton saved two match points at 5-6 in the second set and recovered from two breaks down in the decider, but Kym controlled the final tie-break. He plays Lehecka on Friday.
Fils, Fritz and Lehecka progress
Second seed Arthur Fils came from a set down to beat Alex Michelsen 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5), saving six of eight break points and equalling his personal best of 38 tour-level wins in a season. He sits seventh in the Race to Turin and meets sixth seed Taylor Fritz next. Fritz beat Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-3 in one hour and 18 minutes for his ninth quarter-final of the year. Eighth seed Lehecka beat lucky loser Daniel Altmaier 7-5, 6-4.
Results (Thursday 29 October 2026, Swiss Indoors Basel):
Jan-Lennard Struff bt Novak Djokovic (4) 6-7(4), 7-5, 7-6(5)
Valentin Vacherot bt Rafael Jodar (3) 7-6(4), 2-6, 7-6(5)
Jerome Kym (WC) bt Ben Shelton (1) 6-3, 6-7(4), 7-6(1)
Arthur Fils (2) bt Alex Michelsen 4-6, 6-3, 7-6(5)
Taylor Fritz (6) bt Denis Shapovalov 6-4, 6-3
Jiri Lehecka (8) bt Daniel Altmaier (LL) 7-5, 6-4
