Roman Safiullin vs Denis Shapovalov Prediction & Betting Tips - Wimbledon Qualification, England

Prediction published on 08/07/2023, 08:00  by Steve Ashfield | Modified on 09/07/2023 at 01:20 in Tennis Predictions

26th seeded Denis Shapovaov takes on unseeded Roman Safiullin in the Wimbledon fourth round. The winner of htis match will face either eighth seeded Jannik Sinner or unseeded Daniel Elahi Galan in the quarter finals of this grass court Grand Slam. Shapovalov reached the last four at Wimbledon two years ago but this is only his second time past round two. He started this tournament ranked 29th in the world but is up to 22nd in the live rankings. Making it to the last eight will see him back in the top 20. His three wins at Wimbledon have taken his yearly ATP Tour record to 13-12. Only once this year has the 24-year-old reached a quarter final. That was in his very first tournament of the year in Adelaide six months ago. Strangely he had to beat Safiullin to reach the last eight and did so for the loss of only seven games. He's 2-0 up on his opponent in previous meetings but this is their first match on grass.The Canadian played the Stuttgart and Halle grass court warm-up tournaments but only won one of his three matches. It's gone better at Wimbledon though he has dropped two sets on his way to the fourth round. His most recent win saw him lose the first set to Liam Broady but win the next three for the loss of nine games.

Roman Safiullin started this tournament ranked 92nd in the world. That's four places lower than he was when losing to Shapovalov in January. The Russian was a career high 82nd earlier in the year but has smashed that due this run at Wimbledon. He's up to 58th in the live rankings at the time of writing this preview. Reaching the last eight could see him as high as 43rd. Before this year, Safiullin had mever qualified for the main draw at Wimbledon and this is his first time past the second round of any Grand Slam. He played three grass court warm-up events, making the last 16 in Mallorca but losing to then world number 298 Lloyd Harris. This tournament has seen him beat 20th seed Roberto Bautista Agut in five sets after trailing 2-1. He's since had straight sets wins over Correntin Moutet and Guido Pella. This is much tougher and we go for Shapovalov to get the win.