A brilliant victory over Roberto Bautista-Agut instantly turned Roman Safiullin into the hero of the day. However, the Russian tennis player was not going to stop at the only sensation and continued his way up. A difficult duel with the Frenchman Corentin Moutet also ended successfully for our athlete, and then a meeting with the Davis Cup winner Guido Pella followed. The Argentinean spoiled the opponent’s nerves at the start, but in the end he was simply defeated.

The heroic victory of Roman, after which I really want to see the continuation.

“Victory impulse”

Before the start of Wimbledon, Russian fans could expect a successful performance in the men’s singles from Daniil Medvedev, Andrei Rublev, Aslan Karatsev, after all. But few had high hopes for the 92nd racket of the ATP rating Roman Safiullin – the 25-year-old tennis player had not previously gone beyond the second round at Grand Slam tournaments. However, this time the athlete managed to make progress. Already at the start, he had to play with the 20th seeded Roberto Bautista-Agut from Spain, and the Russian snatched a sensational victory. Such success was simply impossible not to notice.

– Of course, Safiullin’s victory is an absolutely phenomenal thing. Against him was a player who has repeatedly played here and feels great here. It should be borne in mind that these are only the first days of Wimbledon, as well as severe weather conditions. This could affect the opponent. However, this is still a remarkable victory for Roman. It is only necessary to congratulate him and hope that this victorious impulse will remain with him. But it is necessary that Safiullin calmly react to this and move on, ”Olga Morozova, Wimbledon 1974 finalist, said in an interview with Match TV.

Roman, on the other hand, reacted calmly to his success and after that he knocked out the Frenchman Corentin Mute from the draw, spending 2 hours and 50 minutes on a difficult match. He did not give a single set to a competitor, but he had to work hard on a tie-break to win.

optimistic mood

The opponent in the third round allowed us to count on the continuation of the tale. The Argentinean Pella in 2016 won the Davis Cup with his teammates, but his individual achievements were modest. Once he got to the quarterfinals of Wimbledon, but he did not aim for more. Nevertheless, the 33-year-old athlete also surprised in the first round, defeating the eminent Croat Borna Coric. He did not stumble in the second round, although the match stretched over four sets.

Bookmakers before a face-to-face meeting of two dark horses preferred the Russian. True, the status of a favorite at such a grandiose sporting event is not a guarantee of a successful performance. If Safiullin had lost to the South American, hardly anyone would have spoken in all seriousness about the big surprise.

But Roman did not think to lose! Yes, the first set was very difficult. Having won the game on someone else’s pitch, the Russian allowed the opponent to make a break, and then take the lead. But the Argentine could not break away. Everyone was good at their serve, so it eventually went to a tie-break. And here our tennis player did not miss the chance: he allowed Pellier to score only one point, and he, acting almost without mistakes, confidently brought the matter to victory in the set – 7:6 (7:1). A successful start did not guarantee anything yet, but it set Safiullin’s fans in an optimistic mood.

Photo: © Personal archive of Roman Safiullin

A pleasant surprise

In the second set, the same stubborn confrontation awaited the audience. The participants of the match continued to take games on their serve. Sometimes this had to be done in the fight – at the start of the set, Safiullin almost stumbled. In other cases, the opponents took their feeds to zero. After another easy victory for the Argentine in the draw, the score on the scoreboard became equal – 4:4. It might seem that this time it will come to a tie-break. However, Roman added great and in the next two games did not leave his opponent a chance. Already the first setball became victorious for the representative of Russia – 6:4.

By the third set, Pella was somehow very depressed and he himself probably did not believe that he was able to save the match. He lost the game on someone else’s pitch, and then on his own. In the third game, the Argentine took only one rally, and even that because of Roman’s mistake. The South American also failed his next serve. Our athlete took the fifth game to zero, ending with a powerful serve, and then finally declassed the opponent.

With a spectacular volley, Safiullin put an end to the set (6:0) and the match, which lasted 1 hour 47 minutes. 11 innings right through, five break points realized, only one double fault – and now he reached the 1/8 finals of a prestigious tournament for the first time in his career. Now Roman will try to present another pleasant surprise to his fans. The opponent of the Russian will be the representative of Canada Denis Shapovalov.