TennisSection previews the 2022 ATP Cup as Denis Shapovalov meets Roman Safiullin on Saturday January 8th, 2022.
Denis Shapovalov will do battle Roman Safiullin at the 2022 ATP Cup as Canada meets defending champions Russia in the Semi-Finals. Both countries have been impressive so far here in Sydney and will have their eyes firmly fixed on winning the title. Shapovalov enters this match as the big favorite against the relative unknown Safiullin, but the Russian has impressed this week and will be hoping to cause the upset. Can he do the impossible?
Denis Shapovalov is Canada’s number two player here at the 2022 ATP Cup. The talented lefty has been one of the most consistent performers on the ATP Tour over the past few years and was rewarded for his efforts when he broke into the top 10 for the first time. Now finding himself ranked at #14, he knows a strong start to the year will find him back near the top of the ranks and will be aiming for a good showing at the Australian Open. He has been in mixed form so far here in Sydney, going down in straight sets to the red-hot Dan Evans before rebounding to defeat Jan-Lennard Struff to help seal Canada’s progression to the Semi-Finals. Shapovalov is the big favorite here against the unheralded Roman Safiullin, thrust into the spotlight due to several of the top Russians opting to skip the event. The world number 14 will be expected to win here to comfortably give Canada a valuable singles point.
Roman Safiullin is currently ranked #167 on the ATP Tour, and was a surprise inclusion to Russia’s 2022 ATP Cup squad. Top players such as Andrey Rublev and Aslan Karatsev are not here in Sydney so Safiullin will have big shoes to fill. So far he has done so admirably, defeating James Duckworth and Arthur Rinderknech, with his only loss coming against top 10 player Jannik Sinner. In this sort of form he will be hoping to cause the massive upset and claim the biggest win of his career over Denis Shapovalov. It will be a tall order, but the Canadian has been known to lose to much lower ranked players before, and is currently notat his best. The Russian is still the huge underdog however, and it would be a big surprise to see anything other than a comfortable win for Shapovalov.
This will be the first meeting between the two players, which is not surprising since Roman Safiullin spends the majority of his time on the Challenger Tour. Denis Shapovalov is one of the best players in the world and is simply on another level to the Russian, so despite him not quite being at his best, I strongly expect him to win this match comfortably and boost Canada’s chances of advancing to the Final here at the 2022 ATP Cup.
Free Tennis Pick and Prediction: Denis Shapovalov to win in straight sets
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