Unseeded players Roman Safiullin and Fabio Fognini will face off in the first round of the Belgrade Open. The winner of this indoor hard court match will meet third seed Francisco Cerundolo in round two. Here’s our match prediction.
Safiullin is currently ranked 60th in the world. The Russian’s confidence is high after winning last week’s Challenger tournament in Bratislava, where he won all five matches in straight sets to claim the title.
On the ATP Tour, the 27-year-old reached the last 16 of the Shanghai Masters in September, securing victories over Alexander Bublik and Frances Tiafoe. He leads Fognini 1-0 in their head-to-head, with their only previous match occurring in Chengdu last month.
Fabio Fognini, ranked 74th, has been struggling for form recently. His last event was in Paris, where he lost in the first round after coming through the qualifying rounds. The 37-year-old has lost five of his last six matches in ATP main draws, and overall, he has dropped four of his last six matches. Notably, all but one of his last five defeats saw him fail to win a set.
We predict Roman Safiullin will win this match in straight sets.