Will the Sinner reach the semi-finals for the first time?
In the run-up to the Wimbledon Championships 2023, Roman Safiullin has never before made it through the second main round of a Grand Slam tournament in one piece. All the more surprising is the run that the Russian, who is only ranked 92nd in the ATP world rankings, is currently making in London. But now, for the first time in the tournament, he is up against a seasoned top-10 player. Jannik Sinner’s betting on the Russian even making it to the semifinals against Roman Safiullin is correspondingly bad.
Meanwhile, the Wimbledon Championships went almost perfectly for Jannik Sinner. The player from Sesto has only dropped one set in the four rounds so far. Most recently, he defeated Daniel Elahi Galán 3:0. The forecast for Jannik Sinner against Roman Safiullin is correspondingly hot, that the South Tyrolean will make it through the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam tournament for the first time in his career in his fifth attempt.
However, this match will probably not be a foregone conclusion for the favoured Jannik Sinner. In the first and so far only meeting with Roman Safiullin, the first set went into a tie-break before the Sesto player finally secured a 2:0 victory. We assume that this grass-court duel between the South Tyrolean and the Russian will not be without a certain length.
Against this background, it is very interesting to bet that at least 36 games are necessary to determine the winner. Incidentally, this could also work out if Jannik Sinner should celebrate another 3:0 victory in three hard-fought sets, all of which also have a certain tiebreak probability with two strong servers.
Jannik Sinner – statistics & current form
Current position in the world ranking: 8
Position in the seedings: 8
21-year-old Jannik Sinner from South Tyrol has already won seven tournaments on the ATP Tour and triumphed at the Open Sud de France in Montpellier in February this year.
However, the player from Sesto has not yet won a major title in his career. In 2021 and 2023, he reached the final of the Miami Open, but was defeated by Hubert Hurkacz and Daniil Medvedev 0:2.
First time in a Grand Slam semifinal at his fifth attempt?
Jannik Sinner has reached four quarter-finals at Grand Slam level so far, but has never made it past this round before. A year ago, he came close to a sensation against superstar Novak Djokovic at the All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club. After leading 2:0 in the first set, the 21-year-old was defeated 2:3 in the end.
In his fifth attempt, the South Tyrolean now wants to reach the round of the best four players at a Grand Slam tournament for the first time. The odds are in his favour. The player from Sesto already won 2-0 against the Russian, who is only ranked 92nd in the ATP world rankings, at the ATP Cup in 2022. Jannik Sinner’s odds against Roman Safiullin are correspondingly clearly in his favour.
Won 36 of 46 singles matches in 2023
All in all, 2023 has been very successful for Jannik Sinner so far, who dropped just a single set on his way to the quarter-finals at the Wimbledon Championships and recorded what was already his 36th win in the 46th singles match of the current season in a 3-0 victory over Daniel Elahi Galán in the last 16.
Once again, his strong serve was a key to his success. The 21-year-old converted 85% of all first serves to win points. In the last 16, only every second first serve was hit (55%). However, Jannik Sinner also scored with his second serve 70% of the time, which could also be half the battle in the quarter-finals.
Roman Safiullin – Statistics & current form
Current world ranking: 92
Position in the seedings: unseeded
The 25-year-old Russian Roman Safiullin started his career on the ATP Tour in 2020 with great anticipatory praise. After all, he won the Australian Open boys’ singles in 2015 and secured a Grand Slam title in his junior career.
Among the professionals, however, the man from Podolsk flew mostly under the radar. In the run-up to this year’s Wimbledon Championships, the ATP world number 92 has never before advanced beyond the second main draw of a Grand Slam.
A new career high is already certain
Now, however, the knot seems to have broken for the Russian, who would make up some ground in the world rankings if he were eliminated in the quarter-finals. He has already climbed to 43rd in the virtual rankings thanks to his round of 16 win over Denis Shapovalov, which will open a few doors to big tournaments for him in the coming months.
The 25-year-old’s run in London is quite surprising, as the grass-court season so far has brought him only one win from three singles matches. While in Halle he lost 0:2 to Jan-Lennard Struff (ATP 21) in his opening match, Roman Safiullin also lost 0:2 to Lloyd Harris (ATP 298) in the second round a week later in Mallorca.
Won ten of the 20 singles matches on the ATP Tour in 2023
There is therefore not much to suggest that Jannik Sinner’s bet on advancing against Roman Safiullin will work out for the world No. 92, whose annual record of ten wins against ten losses is not particularly frightening.
In Wimbledon, however, the Russian has improved dramatically and, after two straight 3-0 victories, was also convincing in the last 16 against Denis Shapovalov with impressive service values. Not only did Safiullin score on the first serve in three out of four cases, but also in 21 out of 31 cases in which he had to go over the second serve – an impressive rate of 68%.
Jannik Sinner – Roman Safiullin Direct comparison / H2H balance
Head to head: 1:0
For the first and so far only time, the two athletes met directly in the ATP Cup 2022 in Australia. In the round robin, Jannik Sinner celebrated a smooth 2:0 victory over Roman Safiullin (7:6 and 6:3), which, however, could not change the 1:2 defeat of Italy against Russia.
Jannik Sinner – Roman Safiullin Tip
Our prediction for Jannik Sinner against Roman Safiullin is that the Sextner will advance. However, we do not expect the South Tyrolean to win outright or even without a doubt. Already in the first round, his Russian challenger was able to defeat Roberto Bautista Agut, a former top 10 player, before he finally threw the strong Denis Shapovalov out of the tournament.
Accordingly, it is interesting to bet that this quarter-final will also reach a certain length. In this context, we are betting that at least 36 games are needed to determine the winner.
