Roman Safiullin and Dmitry Popko will fight against each other in the semifinal of the Nur-Sultan Challenger for the 4th time in their career. They are scheduled to play on Saturday at 11:30 am on CENTER COURT. In this post, we analyze their head to head performance and prediction.
Prediction, odds and live streaming
The pick for Tennis Tonic is Roman Safiullin who should win in 2 sets.
As per the initial odds, Roman Safiullin is the pick to win this match.
Roman Safiullin -> 1.174
Dmitry Popko -> 5
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Prediction and head to head Roman Safiullin vs. Dmitry Popko
This will be the 4th time that Roman Safiullin and Dmitry Popko face off. The head to head is 2-1 for Popko (see full H2H stats), but Safiullin leads 1-0 on hard.
The last time that they played each other, Popko won 6-3 1-6 6-3 in the 1st round in the Ostrava Challenger back in 2020.
Roman Safiullin
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 8-12 | 5-7 | 3-4 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 41-25 | 13-12 | 8-4 | 11-5 | 9-4 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 37-18 | 16-6 | 6-2 | 14-9 | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 18-21 | 7-5 | 5-7 | 5-8 | 1-1 | 0-0 |
| 2020 | 23-12 | 6-2 | 4-5 | 12-4 | 0-0 | 1-1 |
Ranked no. 151, Roman reached the semifinal after defeating Seong Chan Hong 6-2 3-6 6-3, Alafia Ayeni 6-2 6-4 and Benjamin Lock 6-2 6-3.
In the quarter, The Russian had a good straight sets win against Lock (6-2 6-3). During the match, Safiullin scored 66 points vs Lock’s 50. Safiullin was extremely aggressive to blast 27 winners.
Talking about the service games, Safiullin bagged 6 aces and he committed only 4 double faults. Roman Safiullin was exceptionally efficient on serve to win 90% (27/30) of his 1st serve and 54% (14/26) on the second serve. This was the main reason for not conceding a single break during the match. Roman broke Lock 3 times after converting 38% of his break points (3/8).
Overall Performance in this tournament
Safiullin has lost 1 set in this event to win 56% of the points he played.
Safiullin has a solid match record in the last 10 years having won 68% of his matches (318-152). 7-4 on hard in 2022. Regarding his performance on the same surface of this competition, Safiullin has an overall 191-64 match record in the last years on hard.
The Russian’s best result of the season was getting to the semifinal in Marseille,the Pau Challenger and the Troisdorf Challenger.
The Russian has a composed 23-13 win-loss record in 2022, 7-4 on hard (See FULL STATS).
Previously in the The Nur-Sultan Challenger
Dmitry Popko
| Year | Total | Hard | Clay | I.hard | Grass | Carpet |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2024 | 42-10 | 5-0 | 37-10 | 0-0 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2023 | 40-20 | 1-1 | 38-18 | 1-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2022 | 18-30 | 11-11 | 7-18 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| 2021 | 34-34 | 0-4 | 27-19 | 7-10 | 0-1 | 0-0 |
| 2020 | 28-23 | 13-8 | 15-10 | 0-5 | 0-0 | 0-0 |
Ranked no. 189, Popko reached the semifinal after beating Jose Statham 6-3 6-4, Yanki Erel 7-66 6-4 and Evgeny Donskoy 7-5 6-4.
In the quarter, The Kazakhstani had a good straight sets win against Donskoy (7-5 6-4). During the match Popko scored 81 points vs Donskoy’s 67. Dmitry was pretty aggressive to blast 35 winners.
About the serving games, Popko made 9 aces and he committed only 4 double faults. Dmitry Popko lost the serve twice and he saved 5 break points. Furthermore, Popko put 66% of his first serves in, winning 65% (35/54) of the points behind his 1st serve and 54% (15/28) on the 2nd serve. Popko broke Donskoy 4 times after converting 67% of his break points (4/6).
Overall Performance in this tournament
The Kazakhstani hasn’t dropped yet a set in the tournament to win 55% of the points he played.
The Kazakhstani has a compiled 12-19 win-loss record in 2022, 8-6 on hard (See FULL STATS).
H2H Performance in the tournament (main draw)
Matches, sets, games and points
| Points | Safiullin | Popko |
|---|---|---|
| Match played | 3 | 3 |
| Tot Set | 7 | 6 |
| Tot Games | 61 | 64 |
| Pts | 219-175 | 236-196 |
| Total Points | 394 | 432 |
| Winners | 92 | 85 |
| %Winners | 42% | 36% |
Both Safiullin and Popko played 3 matches. At the moment, Roman Safiullin surrendered 1 set while Dmitry Popko hasn’t lost a set so far. Safiullin has played 1 set more than Popko (7 vs 6). However, it’s interesting to notice that Safiullin played 3 games less than Popko. The Russian scored 92 winners (42% of the total points). On the other side, The Kazakhstani bagged 85 winners (36%).
Serve Performance
| Serve | Safiullin | Popko |
|---|---|---|
| Aces | 15 | 21 |
| Avg per match | 5 | 7 |
| 1st in | 123/204 | 118/214 |
| %1st in | 60% | 55% |
| 1st pts | 92/123 | 85/118 |
| %1st pts | 75% | 72% |
| 2nd pts | 43/81 | 57/96 |
| %2nd pts | 53% | 59% |
Safiullin blasted 15 aces (5 per match). Popko struck 21 aces (7 per match). Safiullin won 75% points on his first serve. He pretty solid on his second serve to win 53% of the points. On the other side, Popko won 72% of the points on his first serve. He had a solid display on his second serve to win 59% of the points.
How they played the important points
| Breaks | Safiullin | Popko |
|---|---|---|
| Won | 12 | 9 |
| Converted | 12/23 | 9/20 |
| % Converted | 52% | 45% |
| Conceded | 23 | 15 |
| Saved | 19 | 11 |
| % Saved | 83% | 73% |
| Times Broken | 4 | 4 |
Roman broke his opponents 12 times with a 52% conversion rate. The Russian dropped his serve 4 times and he saved 83% of the break points that he conceded. Popko broke his opponents 9 times with a 45% conversion rate. The Kazakhstani conceded his serve 4 times and he saved 73% of the break points that he conceded.
| Safiullin | |||||
| R1 Chan Hong |
R2 Ayeni |
1/4 Lock |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 6-2 3-6 6-3 | 6-2 6-4 | 6-2 6-3 | ||
| Tot Set | 3 | 2 | 2 | 7 | |
| Tot Games | 26 | 18 | 17 | 61 | |
| pts | 85-71 | 68-54 | 66-50 | 219-175 | |
| Total points | 156 | 122 | 116 | 394 | |
| Winners | 32 | 33 | 27 | 92 | |
| %Winners | 38% | 49% | 41% | 42% | |
| SERVE | |||||
| Aces | 6 | 3 | 6 | 15 | |
| Double Faults | 4 | 9 | 4 | 17 | |
| 1st in | 49/78 | 44/70 | 30/56 | 123/204 | |
| % 1st in | 63% | 63% | 54% | 60% | |
| 1st pts | 32/49 | 33/44 | 27/30 | 92/123 | |
| % 1st pts | 65% | 75% | 90% | 75% | |
| 2nd pts | 18/29 | 11/26 | 14/26 | 43/81 | |
| % 2nd pts | 62% | 42% | 54% | 53% | |
| Breaks | |||||
| Won | 5 | 4 | 3 | 12 | |
| Converted | 5/9 | 4/6 | 3/8 | 12/23 | |
| Converted % | 56% | 67% | 38% | 52% | |
| Conceded | 11 | 10 | 2 | 23 | |
| Saved | 8/11 | 9/10 | 2/2 | 19 | |
| Saved % | 73% | 90% | 100% | 88% | |
| Times Broken | 3 | 1 | 0 | 4 | |
| Popko | |||||
| R1 Statham |
R2 Erel |
1/4 Donskoy |
Total | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Score | 6-3 6-4 | 7-66 6-4 | 7-5 6-4 | ||
| Tot Set | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 | |
| Tot Games | 19 | 23 | 22 | 64 | |
| pts | 67-50 | 88-79 | 81-67 | 236-196 | |
| Total points | 117 | 167 | 148 | 432 | |
| Winners | 19 | 31 | 35 | 85 | |
| %Winners | 28% | 35% | 43% | 36% | |
| SERVE | |||||
| Aces | 4 | 8 | 9 | 21 | |
| Double Faults | 2 | 7 | 4 | 13 | |
| 1st in | 21/55 | 43/77 | 54/82 | 118/214 | |
| % 1st in | 38% | 56% | 66% | 55% | |
| 1st pts | 19/21 | 31/43 | 35/54 | 85/118 | |
| % 1st pts | 90% | 72% | 65% | 72% | |
| 2nd pts | 23/34 | 19/34 | 15/28 | 57/96 | |
| % 2nd pts | 68% | 56% | 54% | 59% | |
| Breaks | |||||
| Won | 2 | 3 | 4 | 9 | |
| Converted | 2/5 | 3/9 | 4/6 | 9/20 | |
| Converted % | 40% | 33% | 67% | 45% | |
| Conceded | 0 | 8 | 7 | 15 | |
| Saved | 0/0 | 6/8 | 5/7 | 11 | |
| Saved % | – | 75% | 71% | 49% | |
| Times Broken | 0 | 2 | 2 | 4 | |
Head 2 Head
LWWLLLWLWL
LLWWWLLWLW Tennis Scores in Sultan Challenger
- Ji Sung Nam/Min-Kyu SongSung Nam/Min-Kyu Song – Evgeny Donskoy/Alibek KachmazovDonskoy/Alibek Kachmazov (6-1 7-5) – Stats, scores, rankings
Upcoming matches in the draw
- Denis YevseyevYevseyev – Beibit ZhukayevZhukayev (2-1) – H2H and prediction
- Roman SafiullinSafiullin – Dmitry PopkoPopko (1-2) – H2H and prediction
