Roman Rishatovich Safiullin[a] (born 7 August 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. Safiullin has a career high ATP singles ranking of world No. 36 achieved on 8 January 2024, and in doubles of world No. 151 achieved on 19 August 2024.
On the junior tour, Safiullin has a career high combined ranking of No. 2 achieved on 26 May 2014. He is a junior Major champion, having won the 2015 Australian Open over Hong Seong-chan.[6] His biggest junior title, after his Australian Open title, is the Grade A Trofeo Bonfiglio where he beat Andrey Rublev in the final.[7]
Career
2020: First Challenger titles in singles and doubles , top 200 debut
Safiullin claimed his first Challenger tour titles in singles and doubles with Pavel Kotov in Cherbourg, France in February 2020.[8]
2021: Grand Slam debut
He made his Grand Slam debut at the 2021 Australian Open after qualifying and reached the second round by defeating Ilya Ivashka. He also qualified for the 2021 French Open reaching also the second round with a win over Carlos Taberner.[9] As a result, he reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 156 on 14 June 2021.[10]
2022: ATP Cup & semifinals, first ATP semifinal & top 10 win, top 100
On his debut, he reached the semifinals at the 2022 ATP Cup after winning 2 singles and 3 doubles matches with teammate Daniil Medvedev.[11] As a result, he moved 21 positions up in the rankings to a new career-high in the top 150 in singles of World No. 146 on 10 January 2022.[12][10]
Safiullin qualified for Marseilles after beating Ernests Gulbis and Julian Lenz. After qualifying, he beat 7th seed Alexei Popyrin and fellow qualifier Tomáš Macháč to reach his first ATP Tour-level quarterfinal. There, he claimed his first top-10 win by beating top seed Stefanos Tsitsipas in straight sets, for the best win in his career, to reach his first semifinal on the ATP Tour.[15][16] He lost to Félix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets with two tiebreaks.[17]
In July, he won his second Challenger title in Nur Sultan. As a result, he reached a new career-high ranking in the top 120 at world No. 119.[18] He then won a third Challenger title in Chicago, propelling him 25 positions up to a top 100 debut at world No. 97 on 15 August 2022.[19]
In September, Safiullin reached the second semifinal of the season in Tel Aviv, where he lost in straight sets to top seed Novak Djokovic. As a result, he reached a new career-high ranking of world No. 92 on 3 October 2022.[20]
2023-2024: Major quarterfinal, ATP final & top 5 win, top 40, Masters fourth round
He reached a new career-high ranking of No. 82 on 6 February 2023 after he clinched his first ATP Challenger Tour title of the year at the 2023 Koblenz Open. He won four three-set matches before defeating Vasek Pospisil in the final.[21]
On clay, he qualified for his third Masters at the 2023 Mutua Madrid Open and on his debut at this tournament, reached the third round for the first time in his career at a Masters level defeating Nicolás Jarry and upsetting 14th seed Tommy Paul.[22] He qualified for his next Masters 1000 at the Italian Open and also on his debut reached the third round, defeating two Americans, Marcos Giron and upsetting 22nd seed Sebastian Korda before losing to Australian Alexei Popyrin.[23]
At the 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters he reached the third round upsetting this time ninth seed Alexander Zverev, his second career top-10 win.[31] At the next Masters in Paris where he qualified on his debut at this tournament,[32] he upset world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the second round in straight sets for the biggest win in his career.[33] He improved to 3-6 against the Top 10 with this win. As a result he reached the top 40 in the rankings on 6 November 2023.[34][35] At the 2024 Rolex Shanghai Masters, Safiullin went one step further and reached the fourth round for the first time at the 1000-level, with upsets over 23rd seed Alexander Bublik and 13th seed Frances Tiafoe.[36]
Performance timeline
Key
W
F
SF
QF
#R
RR
Q#
P#
DNQ
A
Z#
PO
G
S
B
NMS
NTI
P
NH
(W) winner; (F) finalist; (SF) semifinalist; (QF) quarterfinalist; (#R) rounds 4, 3, 2, 1; (RR) round-robin stage; (Q#) qualification round; (P#) preliminary round; (DNQ) did not qualify; (A) absent; (Z#) Davis/Fed Cup Zonal Group (with number indication) or (PO) play-off; (G) gold, (S) silver or (B) bronze Olympic/Paralympic medal; (NMS) not a Masters tournament; (NTI) not a Tier I tournament; (P) postponed; (NH) not held; (SR) strike rate (events won / competed); (W–L) win–loss record.
To avoid confusion and double counting, these charts are updated at the conclusion of a tournament or when the player's participation has ended.
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Russia
