On Sunday, July 9, Wimbledon hosts third and fourth round matches in both the men’s and women’s singles. Among the representatives of the stronger sex today, two Russians held their meetings – Andrei Rublev and Roman Safiullin. The latter, in turn, met with Canadian Denis Shapovalov, who is now ranked 29th in the men’s ATP ranking.
The 25-year-old native of Podolsk pleasantly surprises the domestic fans at the Major on grass. Already at the beginning of the competition, Safiullin hit the 20th seed, the famous Spaniard Roberto Bautista-Aguta. In total, this match lasted for three days! According to the results on Monday, Roman flew in sets 1-2 and was one step away from relegation. The replay was supposed to take place the next day, but on Tuesday, adverse weather conditions did not allow the athletes to play a single game. However, on Wednesday, the Russian was able to turn the tide of the confrontation and win the brightest victory in his career – 2: 6, 7: 6, 6: 7, 6: 4, 7: 5.
In the second round, Roman already in three sets faced the representative of France Corentin Moutet – 7:5, 6:3, 7:6. Thanks to this success, a native of Podolsk managed to show the best result of his overall career in TBSh – our player reached the 1/16 final for the first time in a tournament of this level. Safiullin also passed this stage of the tournament with confidence, closing the veteran Argentine Guido Pellew in three games: 7: 6, 6: 4, 6: 0. Thus, in the debut of the Grand Slam on grass, Roman reached the fourth round.
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Roman’s opponent in the 2023 Wimbledon fourth round, Denis Shapovalova, moved up the grid to head-to-head confrontation as follows. At the start of the competition, the Canadian star, who reached the semifinals in London two years ago, won hard over Moldovan Radu Albot in four games (5:7, 6:4, 6:2, 6:2). Then Denis overcame the French Barrera (6:3, 6:4, 7:6), and in the 1/8 final of the major on grass he defeated the rather noisy owner of the courts Liam Broedy with a score of 4:6 . 6:2, 7:5, 7:5.
It is worth noting that Safiullin and Shapovalov have already met twice in their professional career. Notably, both head-to-head clashes occurred in Australia. The first time the tennis players met in the ATP Cup team tournament last season, the Canadian left that match in three games (6:4, 5:7, 6:4). Roman had a great opportunity to get revenge on his opponent at the Adelaide meets this year. However, this time the Wimbledon 2021 semifinalist was stronger than the Russian, beating him 6:4, 6:3. At the same time, on the eve of a new battle with the Canadian, the Russian himself, of course, recalled the unsuccessful fights of the past, about which he spoke in an interview. “We already met Shapovalov this year, before the Australian Open, in Adelaide. I lost against him. And last year also in Australia, hard. I know how he plays, what he can do. I will try to eliminate the mistakes I made in previous matches and improve my game,” Safiullin told the Bolshe telegram channel.
At the same time, domestic experts were positive before the match between Roman and Denis, expressing the following opinion. “You know, it’s just some kind of miracle – Safiullin reached the fourth round at Grand Slam tournaments. He had never been to the third round before, but he went one step further. In fact, Roman is a hard worker and deservedly advanced to the fourth round. In the first round he beat a very good player (the Spanish Roberto Bautista-Aguta, 23rd racket in the world.-Approx. “Championship”), who plays very well on grass, and then it was easier for him. I think Safiullina can beat Shapovalov, now he is on the limit, ”TASS quoted Chesnokov as saying.
The reporting match players started confidently. At first, the opponents took their feeds in stride, and it was the Canadian who managed to make the first break. This happened when the score was 3:2 in their favor. As they say, one break made in men’s tennis was enough to win the game. And so it happened. Shapovalov took the opening set with a score of 6:3. Denis seemed more active on the court, moving his opponent over and over again and having the advantage on long rallies.
Denis Shapovalov
Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
However, the second batch was in a completely different setting. This time, with the score 3:2, it was Roman who managed to take someone else’s serve. And the Podolsk native did it from the first break point. The key moment of the set was their final game. Safiullin needed as many as four (!) set points to keep the game behind him. We add that in her ninth game, the Russian had to play two more break points. 6:3 – with such a score, Roman took this game. Thus, after two sets on track number 2 there was total equality.
Roman Safiullin
Photo: Shaun Botterill/Getty Images
In addition, the Russian could no longer be stopped. During the entire third set, he did not drop a single point on his serve. But Shapovalov, in turn, was able to take only one game, allowing the opponent to break three times. This could also be explained by the fact that the athlete took medical leave due to health problems. 3:6, 6:3, 6:1 – with such numbers Roman and Denis approached the fourth set of the TBSH grass grass 1/8 final match.
In the fourth set, as in the first two opening sets, only one break decided everything. And again, a native of Podolsk did it with a score of 3: 2 in his favor. This time, Román decided not to torment his fans, calmly playing the decisive game of the set with his serve. 3:6, 6:3, 6:1. 6:3: It was with such a score that Safiullin defeated his next highest-status opponent and entered Wimbledon history!
The Russian, who now sits only 92nd on the men’s world ranking list, became only the third tennis player in the history of this major in the last decade outside the top 75, who reached the 1/4 final of the tournament. After Luke. Kubot (#130, 2014) and Nick Kyrgios (144, 2014). Safiullin became the first since 2014 and the 12th debutant in history to reach the quarterfinals of the British Slam. According to the results of the tournament, Román will debut in the top 50. To reach the semifinal stage of the competition, the 92nd racket in the world will play with the winner of the pairing Yannick Sinner – Daniel Galán.
