Former world No. 1 Novak Djokovic has stormed into the semi-finals of the Tel Aviv Open and he locks horns with world No 104 Roman Safiullin on Saturday.
The 21-time Grand Slam champion has steamrolled his way to the semi-finals of the Tel Aviv Open. After losing to Felix Auger-Aliassime at the recently-concluded Laver Cup, Djokovic has come back with a bang.
The top seed began his campaign at the Tel Aviv Open by bageling Pablo Andujar in the first set in the round of 16. The Serbian superstar eventually won the match 6-0, 6-3. In the quarter-finals, the legendary Djokovic managed to weather the initial storm from Vasek Pospisil to win the match in straight sets 7-6 (7-5), 6-3.
The 25-year-old has mostly played Challenger events this year and found decent success. However, he will have to play out of his skin to reach his second tour-level semi-final this year, after having made it to the last four of the Open 13 in Marseille.
Safiullin lost the first set of his first-round match against Hugo Grenier. However, he came back strongly to win the match 3-6, 6-4, 6-2. In the round of 16, Safiullin made light work of Argentina’s Tomas Martin Etcheverry to win the match in straight sets 6-1, 6-4. Safiullin followed it up with another comprehensive performance against Arthur Rinderknech in the quarter-finals. The Russian tennis pro won the match 6-4, 6-1.
The head-to-head scoreline currently stands at 0-0 as Novak Djokovic and Roman Safiullin have not faced each other as yet.
Prediction: Novak Djokovic to win in straight sets.
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