Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Roman Safiullin: 2024 Mexican Open Acapulco - Preview & Prediction

25/02/2024 18:30 | by Zachary Wimer

Stefanos Tsitsipas will kick off his 2024 Mexican Open Acapulco campaign with a very tricky first-round matchup against Roman Safiullin.

The Greek saw himself drop out of the Top 10 on the ATP Tour for the first time in years this year. It comes after a prolonged period of results below his traditional level, which still isn't terrible, but it's not what fans are used to from him either.

He's one of those players that rarely disappoints and generally gets himself to a semi-final or quarter-final regularly. That's not been the case lately, as he only won one trophy in 2023, and that's just not good enough for the Top 10.

He'll try to use his experience at this event to advance to another final here, possibly. The opponent is a tricky one who gave him some trouble in the past, so he'll need to be prepared for that.

Head-to-head:

Tsitsipas and Safiullin played only once so far, and it happened two years ago in Marseille. It was a pretty comfortable two-set win for the Russian, who will try to cause another upset in Mexico. Why did he win? He largely won because it was an indoor hard court that played fast.

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Tsitsipas is very vulnerable against aggressive players like Safiullin, especially in faster conditions. Acapulco is not like that, and I think it's the perfect court to counter the type of play Safiullin brings. The Russian struggled greatly in Los Cabos, and Acapulco might be even worse for him.

Stefanos Tsitsipas		Roman Safiullin
0	H2H	1
11	Rank	38
25	Age	26
5-2	2024 W/L	3-3
305-145	Career W/L	35-34

Prediction:

Tsitsipas showed a decent level in Los Cabos, and while he's far from his peak, he seems to be trending in the right direction. I truly expect him to find his best tennis for this one and ultimately win the match fairly comfortably.

Prediction: Stefanos Tsitsipas to win in two sets.

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