Roman Safiullin is honest about Jannik Sinner

Roman Safiullin is honest about Jannik Sinner

Roman Safiullin praised Jannik Sinner after his defeat at the hands of the South Tyrolean in the quarterfinals of the Wimbledon tournament. The Russian tennis player, among the surprises of the Championships, came out on top in one set but failed to elevate his game when the Azzurro raised the bar. “I am still happy with this tournament and that I managed to reach the quarterfinals. Jannik is definitely one of the most difficult opponents and plays very well on all surfaces. He was much better than me today, I would say. He deserved this victory.”

Match analysis: “In the first set I made a mistake that cost me the set. In the third and fourth the situation was similar. I was doing well on serve, but at a certain moment I lost concentration and then Jannik gave 100 percent and broke me.”

Safiullin did not give Sinner a pass at all in the semifinals against defending champion Novak Djokovic: “I saw last year’s match against Novak, Sinner was up two sets to zero. Obviously Novak has more experience to play best of five sets. I imagine it will be a very interesting and open semifinal.”

Safiullin now aims to grow further: “My strength is my serve, my coach and I realized that I could play more aggressively and come to the net. This way opponents have a lot of pressure and I can finish volleys. Also, I have been playing a lot on grass this year to adapt to this surface. I will be in Cincinnati, it is an important tournament tournament. If I don’t make it that far, I would probably go back to the Challengers.”