On Monday, June 17, the main draw matches of the ATP-500 tournament in Halle (Germany) began. The entry list for the current competition includes Russian tennis players such as Roman Safiullin and Daniil Medvedev.
The Halle tournament began in 1993 as an analogue of the ATP-250 category, but since 2015 it has increased its weight to ATP-500. Roger Federer became champion here 10 times and reached the final three more times. Regarding participation in the final, the Russian Yevgeny Kafelnikov also has a record of 3+1. Also among the finalists were Marat Safin (2005), Mikhail Yuzhny (2013), Andrei Rublev (2021, 2023) and Daniil Medvedev (2022).
Russia’s fourth racket, Roman Safiullin, began the grass season at the ATP-250 tournament in Stuttgart. At the beginning of the German tournament, the national athlete lost to the future finalist Matteo Berrettini 6:7, 7:5, 5:7. Thus, the number 40 racket in the world suffered its fourth consecutive defeat. Safiullin’s bad streak dates back to the Challenger in May in Aix-en-Provence (France). If we ignore the “Challenger” level, then at the ATP Tour level the Russian has already lost six matches in a row.
Related materials
Safiullin lost to the Wimbledon finalist in Stuttgart. Roman lost his sixth consecutive match
In the first round, Halle Safiullin had to fight Fabian Marozan. The tennis players had not seen each other before. It should be noted that the Hungarian also passed the tournament in Stuttgart without success, as he covered his racket at the beginning of the competition. Let us remember that Fabián lost to the Serbian Medjedovic in three sets.
The first set of the debut head-to-head confrontation was very tenacious. Yes, Roman had the opportunity to break at the beginning of the match, but the athlete missed both of his opportunities: 2:2. Then the players did not have a single break point for a long time. This development of events in the match is not surprising, because it is a typical lawn tennis between two representatives of the ATP circuit who know how to serve well. It seemed that the winner of the game would be determined in a tiebreaker, but Marozan had a different opinion on the matter. The Hungarian took the other’s serve in game 12 and with it the set 7:5 in 54 minutes.
In the second game, Safiullin was finally able to truly get involved in the game. He immediately paused and then kept the score at 2-0. Roman was only able to maintain the advantage he had gained, winning games on his serve. Last year’s Wimbledon singles quarterfinalist managed to do it. The Russian took the second set 6-4 in 33 minutes. It is noteworthy that Fabián did not get a single break point in this game.
But in the final set Marozan changed again. In the first games of this game, the number 45 racket in the world canceled two of his serves and between them he managed to break 3-0. Safiullin, in turn, continued to make mistakes. His main weapon, I took it from him, didn’t help much in difficult situations. In the end, Roman allowed his rival to break again 4-0. Fabián then won the fifth game in a row and finally defeated his opponent 7:5, 4:6, 6:1 in 2 hours and 9 minutes. Therefore, if we take into account the matches of the official ATP tournaments, then Safiullin has already suffered his seventh (!) consecutive defeat.
But Daniil Medvedev, who competes in the “five hundred” in Halle as a couple with Safiullin himself, also had his individual match today, June 17. The 2021 US Open champion had the Portuguese Nuno Borges as his opponent. Let’s add that both tennis players played their first match on grass this season.
The score of personal meetings is 1-0 in favor of Daniil. This year he won in the round of 16 of the Australian Open 6: 3, 7: 6 (4), 5: 7, 6: 1. Let us remember that in the end the Russian reached the final of the Australian Major, where he lost in a tense five-set match against the Italian Jannik Sinner.
Related materials
Medvedev missed two match points and lost the set. But he gave the finishing touch to his rival and reached the quarterfinals AO
In the new meeting, it was Borges who played first. The Portuguese attacked a lot, used many cuts, advanced, but at the same time made many mistakes. The players exchanged breaks at the start of the game. Then there was equal tennis until the tie-break. It is noteworthy that in the 12th game, Nuno had a set point on the reception, but Medvedev executed an excellent serve in the corner and thanks to this he managed to get out of a difficult situation. In the tennis penalty, Daniil played with greater precision and immediately gained a big advantage. In the end, the Russian team won the opening match 7-6 (4) in 53 minutes.
Daniil Medvedev
Photo: Imago/TASS
In the middle of the second set, as at the end of the last game, Borzes again had the opportunity to take away another’s serve. However, this time Daniil was able to recover. He saved two break points thanks to a good serve. And in the ninth game, Medvedev closed out the match on the second try. The Portuguese crossed into the corner, went to the net, volleyed a cross, but Daniil managed to hit from the right along the line and the opponent could not handle the difficult volley ball. Thus, the Russian achieved his first victory on grass in 2024. Next he will play the fifth racket in the world with Zhang Zhizhen from China. It is worth noting that in today’s confrontation Medvedev scored 9 aces.
The Halle tournament will end on June 23. Follow all the events of the “Championship”.
