Roman Rishatovich Safiullin (born 7 August 1997) is a Russian professional tennis player. He has a career-high ATP singles ranking of world No. 36, achieved on 8 January 2024 and a best doubles ranking of No. 151, achieved on 19 August 2024.
Career
2014–2015: Juniors On the junior circuit, Safiullin reached an ITF combined ranking of world No. 2 on 26 May 2014. He is a Grand Slam Junior champion, having won the 2015 Australian Open over Hong Seong-chan. His biggest junior title, after his Australian Open title, is the Grade A Trofeo Bonfiglio where he beat Andrey Rublev in the final.
2020: Challenger titles, top 200 Safiullin claimed his first Challenger tour titles in singles and doubles with Pavel Kotov in Cherbourg, France in February 2020.
2021: Grand Slam debut Safiullin 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. As a result, he reached a career-high singles ranking of No. 156 on 14 June 2021.
2022: ATP Cup and ATP Tour semifinals, 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. 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.
At the 2022 Australian Open, he qualified as lucky loser after the withdrawal of Casper Ruud where he lost to Alex Molčan.
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. He lost to Félix Auger-Aliassime in straight sets with two tiebreaks.
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. 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.
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.
2023–2024: Major quarterfinal, ATP final & top 5 win, top 50 Safiullin reached a new best singles ranking of world 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.
Safiullin made his Masters 1000 debut at the 2023 BNP Paribas Open but lost to Ilya Ivashka. He qualified for his second Masters at the 2023 Miami Open but also lost in the first round to Grégoire Barrère.
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. 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.
At the 2023 Wimbledon Championships he defeated 20th seed Roberto Bautista Agut, Corentin Moutet, Guido Pella and 26th seed Denis Shapovalov to reach the quarterfinals of a Major for the first time. He became just the 12th man to reach the quarterfinals on his Wimbledon main draw debut. As a result, he moved into the top 50 rising close to 50 positions up in the rankings. In the quarterfinal match, eighth seed Jannik Sinner proved too strong.
At the 2023 Chengdu Open he reached the semifinals defeating Brandon Nakashima, fourth seed Dan Evans and Jordan Thompson by retirement. He defeated second seed Lorenzo Musetti to reach his first final at ATP tour level. He lost to top seed Alexander Zverev in three sets.
At the 2023 Rolex Shanghai Masters he reached the third round upsetting this time ninth seed Alexander Zverev, his second career top-10 win. At the next Masters in Paris where he qualified on his debut at this tournament, he upset world No. 2 Carlos Alcaraz in the second round in straight sets for the biggest win in his career. 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. 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.
2025-2026: Hiatus, Wimbledon fourth round In July 2026, ranked No. 132, he reached the fourth round at the 2026 Wimbledon Championships, upsetting 24th seed Joao Fonseca, after qualifying for the main draw. Safiullin had no tour-level wins in 2026 prior to the grass-court major, having cut short his 2025 season after the 2025 US Open due to injury.
Early life Safiullin was born in Podolsk, Russia, to Tatar father Rishat Safiullin«По впечатлению спортсменов в Татарстане построен один из лучших теннисных центров» and a Russian mother.
Performance timelines
Current as of 2026 French Open. Tournament202020212022202320242025 2026Win % Grand Slam tournamentsAustralian OpenA2R1R1R1R1RA0 / 51–5French OpenQ22RQ1A1R1R1R0 / 41–4WimbledonNHQ2AQF3R1R4R0 / 36–3US OpenAAQ12R2R2R0 / 33–3Win–loss0–02–20–15–33–41–4 0–10 / 1511–15ATP Tour Masters 1000Indian WellsAAA1R2R2RA0 / 32–3Miami OpenAAA1R2R3RA0 / 33–3Monte-Carlo MastersAAAQ12RAA0 / 11–1Madrid OpenAAA3R1R1RA0 / 32–3Italian OpenAAA3R1R1RA0 / 32–3Canadian OpenAAAA1R2R0 / 21–2Cincinnati OpenAAA1RA2R0 / 21–2Shanghai MastersNH3R4RA0 / 25–2Paris MastersAAA3RAA0 / 12–1Win–loss0–00–00–08–76–75–60 / 2019–20
ATP Tour finals
Singles: 1 (runner-up) LegendGrand Slam (–)ATP 1000 (–)ATP 500 (–)ATP 250 (0–1)Finals by surfaceHard (0–1)Clay (–)Grass (–)Finals by settingOutdoor (0–1)Indoor (–)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreLoss0–1Chengdu Open, ChinaATP 250Hard Alexander Zverev7–6(7–2), 6–7(5–7), 3–6
ATP Challenger Tour finals
Singles: 8 (8 titles) LegendATP Challenger Tour (8–0)Finals by surfaceHard (6–0)Clay (2–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0Challenger La Manche, FranceChallengerHard (i) Roberto Marcora6–4, 6–2Win2–0President's Cup, KazakhstanChallengerHard Denis Yevseyev2–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–2)Win3–0Chicago Men's Challenger, USChallengerHard Ben Shelton6–3, 4–6, 7–5Win4–0Koblenz Open, GermanyChallengerHard (i) Vasek Pospisil6–2, 7–5Win5–0Cary Tennis Classic, USChallengerHard Mattia Bellucci1–6, 7–5, 7–5Win6–0Slovak Open, SlovakiaChallengerHard (i) Raphaël Collignon6–3, 6–4Win7–0Open de Oeiras, PortugalChallengerClay Valentin Royer6–1, 6–2Win8–0Danube Upper Austria Open, AustriaChallengerClay Jaime Faria4–6, 6–4, 7–6(7–4)
Doubles: 1 (title) LegendATP Challenger Tour (1–0)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreWin1–0Challenger La Manche, FranceChallengerHard (i) Pavel Kotov Dan Added Albano Olivetti7–6(8–6), 5–7, [12–10]
ITF Tour finals
Singles: 25 (19 titles, 6 runner-ups) LegendITF Futures/WTT (19–6)Finals by surfaceHard (16–5)Clay (3–1)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfaceOpponentScoreWin1–0Uzbekistan F1, QarshiFuturesHard Temur Ismailov2–6, 7–5, 6–1 Loss1–1Russia F5, KazanFuturesClay Anton Zaytsev3–6, 4–6Win2–1Russia F6, KazanFuturesClay Richard Muzaev6–1, 4–6, 6–1Win3–1Greece F11, HeraklionFuturesHard Ivan Bjelica6–0, 3–6, 6–3Win4–1Greece F12, HeraklionFuturesHard Denis Bejtulahi4–6, 7–6(7–2), 6–4Win5–1Turkey F42, AntalyaFuturesHard Denys Mylokostov7–6(9–7), 6–3Win6–1Turkey F43, AntalyaFuturesHard Frederico Ferreira Silva6–1, 1–2 ret.Loss6–2Turkey F5, AntalyaFuturesHard Hong Seong-chan2–6, 5–7Win7–2Turkey F8, AntalyaFuturesHard Dimitar Kuzmanov3–6, 7–5, 7–5Win8–2Egypt F21, Sharm El SheikhFuturesHard Michal Konečný6–2, 6–1Loss8–3Egypt F23, Sharm El SheikhFuturesHard Anis Ghorbel7–5, 2–6, 6–7(4–7)Win9–3Israel F14, MeitarFuturesHard Daniel Cukierman6–0, 6–4Win10–3Egypt F30, Sharm El SheikhFuturesHard Pablo Vivero González6–2, 7–6(7–5)Loss10–4Egypt F32, Sharm El SheikhFuturesHard Michal Schmid3–6, 6–0, 6–7(5–7)Win11–4Egypt F34, Sharm El SheikhFuturesHard Cem İlkel7–5, 7–6(7–3)Win12–4Russia F3, KazanFuturesHard (i) Jurabek Karimov6–2, 6–1Win13–4Egypt F10, Sharm El SheikhFuturesHard Jaroslav Pospíšil6–1, 6–1Loss13–5Uzbekistan F4, NamanganFuturesHard Cem İlkel1–6, 6–7(12–14)Win14–5Vietnam F4, Tây NinhFuturesHard Lý Hoàng Nam7–6(9–7), 6–4Win15–5Vietnam F5, Tây NinhFuturesHard Lý Hoàng Nam7–6(7–5), 6–4Win16–5Thailand F8, NonthaburiFuturesHard Sanjar Fayziev7–5, 4–6, 6–4Win17–5M25 Kazan, RussiaWTTHard (i) Sanjar Fayziev6–3, 1–6, 6–4Win18–5M25 Shymkent, KazakhstanWTTClay Alen Avidzba7–6(7–2), 6–2Win19–5M25 Shymkent, KazakhstanWTTClay Vladyslav Manafov7–5, 6–3Loss19–6M25 Namangan, UzbekistanWTTHard Tim van Rijthoven7–6(7–5), 5–7, 4–6
Doubles: 10 (3 titles, 7 runner-ups) LegendITF Futures/WTT (3–7)Finals by surfaceHard (2–5)Clay (1–2)
ResultW–LDateTournamentTierSurfacePartnerOpponentsScoreLoss0–1Russia, KazanFuturesClay Marin Bradarić Ilia Shatskiy Alexander Zhurbin5–7, 1–6Loss0–2Russia, KazanFuturesClay Alexander Bublik Andrey Levine Anton Zaytsev1–6, 3–6Win1–2Tunisia, HammametFuturesClay Lenny Hampel Ivan Nedelko Henrik Sillanpää6–1, 6–3Loss1–3Egypt, Sharm El SheikhFuturesHard Michal Konečný Pedro Bernardi Christopher Díaz Figueroa6–7(4–7), 7–6(7–2), [7–10]Loss1–4Russia, KazanFuturesHard (i) Teymuraz Gabashvili Alexander Pavlioutchenkov Evgenii Tiurnev4–6, 6–3, [6–10]Win2–4Uzbekistan, QarshiFuturesHard Konstantin Kravchuk Saketh Myneni Vijay Sundar Prashanth3–6, 7–5, [10–7]Loss2–5Uzbekistan, AndijanFuturesHard Konstantin Kravchuk Sergey Betov Yaraslav Shyla4–6, 6–7(2–7)Loss2–6Uzbekistan, NamanganFuturesHard Konstantin Kravchuk Sanjar Fayziev Khumoyun Sultanov6–7(6–8), 7–5, [8–10]Loss2–7Vietnam, Tây NinhFuturesHard Lý Hoàng Nam Francis Alcantara Markus Eriksson7–5, 4–6, [7–10]Win3–7M25 Namangan, UzbekistanWTTHard Evgenii Tiurnev Sanjar Fayziev Khumoyun Sultanov7–6(7–5), 6–3
Wins over top 10 players
Safiullin has a record against players who were, at the time the match was played, ranked in the top 10.
Season202220232026TotalWins1214
#PlayerRankEventSurfaceRdScore20221. Stefanos Tsitsipas4Open 13 Provence, FranceHard (i)QF6–4, 6–416320232. Alexander Zverev10Shanghai Masters, ChinaHard2R6–3, 6–1503. Carlos Alcaraz2Paris Masters, FranceHard (i)2R6–3, 6–44520264. Flavio Cobolli7China Open, ChinaHard1R6–3, 6–284 *
Junior Grand Slam finals
Singles: 1 (title) ResultYearTournamentSurfaceOpponentScoreWin2015Australian OpenHard Hong Seong-chan7–5, 7–6(7–2)
Awards The Russian Cup in the nominations: Team of the Year — Boys Under-16: 2013. Junior of the Year: 2015.
Notes
References
External links