Tennis
The retired Russian tennis player is on his way to the elite. Destroyed the favorite and didn’t even notice
Roman Safiullin / Photo: © Hu Chengwei / Stringer / Getty Images Sport / Gettyimages.ru
Roman Safiullin took out his top opponent in just over an hour.
Russian tennis player Roman Safiullin has reached the third round of the Masters, which is taking place in Shanghai. Our compatriot easily dealt with German Alexander Zverev in the second round. But the opponent is in the top 10 of the world rankings!
But Safiullin didn’t seem to notice this.
Chance for revenge
In China, Roman showed top tennis from the very first draws. At the start of the tournament, the Russian easily dealt with former ATP ranking leader Andy Murray – 6:3, 6:2. Safiullin spent just over an hour and a half to win.
Alexander Zverev missed the first round. This fact, as well as a much higher ranking, made him the favorite in the match with the Russian. The statistics of personal meetings were also on the side of the German: both head-to-head matches were his. The last game between Zverev and Safiullin took place quite recently, at the end of September in Chengdu – then Alexander won the final in three sets.
Roman quickly had a chance for revenge. And there was hope that he would use it.
Space tennis
In the first set, Safiullin started with three games won in a row. Then there was a classic exchange on his serves, and Zverev failed to catch at least one break. Roman showed great tennis with a minimum of mistakes and deservedly took the set – 6:3.
In the second game, the German took the first game on his serve and then stopped. There was only one tennis player left on the court, who dominated in all components. Safiullin had probably never played so inspiredly, and Zverev could only smile sadly after yet another play in favor of his opponent. Roman spent about 35 minutes on the second set and a little over an hour on the entire match – 6:3, 6:1.
Safiullin has never played so powerfully!
“Victory to Roman in the teeth”
Roman’s progress is visible to the naked eye, and experts note this. If the guy maintains the same passion and passion, he may well qualify for the first ATP title in his career.
– After this victory, Roman will be more aggressive and motivated to win every match. Now, with greater grounds, he can claim victory in the tournament. This is tough for him,” noted Honored Coach of Russia Viktor Yanchuk, his words quoted by “Championship”.
In the third round, the Russian will meet Ben Shelton from the USA, who is seeded 19th in Shanghai. Previously, tennis players met only once – in the final of last year’s Challenger in Chicago, Safiullin won. Roman and Ben did not play against each other within the ATP, and it will be all the more interesting to watch their confrontation at a new level.
Source: Sportbox
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