ATP Shanghai Day 8 Predictions Including Novak Djokovic vs Roman Safiullin

It’s unclear if Novak Djokovic will play anything after ATP Shanghai this year, but he certainly looks motivated to win this event. The 4-time champion has already eliminated Alex Michelsen and Flavio Cobolli. Now he’s coming up against Roman Safiullin. Who do you think will come out on top?

                                            ATP Shanghai Day 8 Predictions:

Jakub Mensik vs Grigor Dimitrov

Head-to-head: Mensik 1-0

Jakub Mensik defeated Grigor Dimitrov in Madrid earlier this year, and while the Czech isn’t playing quite like he was in the first months of the season, we shouldn’t forget him when discussing the biggest upcoming stars. He proved it again by taking out Andrey Rublev here and has already posted three deciding set wins. Dimitrov won’t be feeling too comfortable heading into this one, but maybe right now he can outfox Mensik with the Czech’s stamina, which is looking a bit suspect in his third round already.
Prediction: Dimitrov in 3

Taylor Fritz vs Holger Rune

Head-to-head: 1-1

Holger Rune survived a tough match against Taylor Fritz in Indian Wells earlier this year, and this should be a fun rematch. From set two onwards, the Dane played some of his most aggressive tennis of the season there, not necessarily following that up as the year went on. But things seem to be heading in a good direction now. His performances in Tokyo and especially Shanghai have been top-notch. He’ll have chances if he can keep it up, but it won’t be easy.
Prediction: Rune in 3

Stefanos Tsitsipas vs Daniil Medvedev

Head-to-head: Medvedev 9-4

It’s a rivalry with lots of history, but they have yet to run into each other this season. Especially when Daniil Medvedev is serving well at the backhand of Stefanos Tsitsipas and making it tough for the Greek to finish rallies, it’s tough to understand what exactly the underdog could do to fight back. But after a year of going about 50-50 on hard courts, Tsitsipas is playing better this week and was firing off the ground in the first two matches. He’ll need more of that against Medvedev, way more of that.
Prediction: Medvedev in 3

Novak Djokovic vs Roman Safiullin

Head-to-head: Djokovic 2-0

Novak Djokovic is playing a very limited schedule now and while his head wasn’t in it at the US Open, it seems like this time he’s motivated to take the title. The Serbian we saw against Flavio Cobolli was hyper-aggressive and never allowed his opponent any time to settle down. Roman Safiullin is one of the more prolific upset-makers on tour with his heavy weaponry, but even he might not be able to dictate the points if Djokovic is serving and hitting like that. And if he can’t stay on top of rallies, he’ll just lose.
Prediction: Djokovic in 2

Safiullin vs. Djokovic match information

• Tournament: The Rolex Shanghai Masters
• Round: Round of 16
• Date: Wednesday, October 9
• Venue: Qi Zhong Tennis Center
• Location: Shanghai, China
• Court Surface: Hard

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Safiullin stats

• Safiullin has played 26.0 games per match (23.1 in best-of-three matches) in his 49 matches over the past year (across all court types).
• In his 34 matches on hard courts over the past year, Safiullin has played an average of 24.1 games (22.9 in best-of-three matches).
• Over the past 12 months, Safiullin has won 78.4% of his service games and 21.9% of his return games.
• In terms of serve/return winning percentages on hard courts over the past 12 months, Safiullin has won 80.1% of his games on serve and 22.0% on return.
• In terms of serve/return winning percentages over his last 10 tournaments, Safiullin has won 79.2% of his games on serve, and 22.5% on return.
• Safiullin is 76th in break points won on all surfaces over the past year, converting 129 of 344 (37.5%).
• Safiullin has converted 38.5% of his break-point chances (62 of 161) over his last 10 tournaments.

Djokovic stats

• Djokovic is averaging 26.6 games per match (23.4 in best-of-three matches) through his 48 matches played in the past year across all court surfaces, winning 57.9% of those games.
• In 21 matches on hard courts in the past 12 months, Djokovic has averaged 30.1 games per match (28.0 in best-of-three matches) and 10.4 games per set, winning 56.5% of those games.
• Djokovic has a service game winning percentage of 85.4% on all surfaces (548-for-642 in service games) and a return game winning percentage of 30.3% (193-for-637 in return games).
• Djokovic has 275 wins in 316 service games on hard courts (87.0%), and 82 wins in 316 return games (25.9%).
• Djokovic has won 31.3% of his return games over his last 10 tournaments, and 84.8% of his service games.
• In the past 12 months, Djokovic is 178-for-425 on break points, 41.9%, which ranks 44th.
• Including all surfaces, Djokovic has converted 164 of 395 break points (41.5%) over his last 10 tournaments.

Roman Safiullin vs. Novak Djokovic head-to-head

• Safiullin and Djokovic matched up in the Rolex Monte-Carlo Masters Round of 32 on April 9, 2024. Djokovic took it 6-1, 6-2.
• Djokovic, in two sets against Safiullin, has taken two of them (100.0%).
• Djokovic and Safiullin have played 15 total games against each other, with Djokovic taking 12.
• Safiullin and Djokovic are averaging 15.0 games and 2.0 sets in their one match against each other.