Tommy Paul will face the challenge of Roman Safiullin in the second round of the Madrid Open
Tommy Paul made a great start to the season, but he has lacked consistency as the season has progressed. He began 2023 with a commendable semi-final appearance at the Australian Open and later in March put up an impressive show to finish runners-up at the Mexican Open. However, it has all gone downhill since then and the American star is yet to win any silverware this season.
Paul is coming into this tournament following a first-round exit from the ATP Houston Open. He is the No.14 seed in Madrid and will aim to put up a good show and set a positive tone for the rest of the year. It remains to be seen if Paul can live up to the high expectations.
Roman Safiullin overcame two rounds of qualifiers to make it to the main draw of the Madrid Open. He registered comprehensive straight-set victories in both his qualifying round matches to progress through to the Round of 128. In his opening encounter of the main draw, Safiullin beat Nicolas Jarry 6-2, 3-6, 6-3 to set up a clash against Tommy Paul.
The 25-year-old has had a pretty underwhelming season so far in terms of results. However, he did win the Challenger Koblenz tournament in February and got the better of some top players in the process. But, the Madrid Open is a Masters 1000 tournament and certainly levels above any Challenger Series tournament – is he good enough to make a mark here? We will certainly have all the answers later tomorrow.
Details:
Date – Saturday, 29th April
Court Type – Clay outdoor surface
Telecast – Tennis Channel
Start Time – To be Announced
Location – Madrid, Spain
Match details – Second Round match
Head to head and Predictions
Paul and Safiullin have never played each other before on the ATP tour. This is the first professional head to head clash between the two players. Paul is the outright favourite going into this match both in terms of form and rankings. It will be a tough ask for Safiullin in this encounter, but he is expected to pose a tough challenge. However, we expect the seeded American to see off Safiullin’s challenge and win in straight sets.
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